Maybe Joe Dirt was Wrong (more on social mullets).

Latkatukka - Maybe Joe Dirt was Wrong (even more on social mullets).

Mat Honan of Gizmodo, “I Flunked My Social Media Background Check. Will You?”

“We ran background checks on six Gizmodo employees, including our editor in chief Joe Brown, and all but one came back clean. When it doesn't find anything incriminating on a potential employee, it simply issues a notice that the employees passed (see below) and doesn't generate a file.

And then there's me. I flunked hard. When that happens, Social Intelligence creates a report, which it would then send to an employer. And if you don't get a job because of your social media report, you can request a copy. Mine's filled with delightful details, like "subject admits to use of cocaine as well as LSD," and "subject references use of Ketamine." Basically, I may never work again.”

SEE MEDIA GALLERY with the details from the report.


Xolotech advocates for a Social Mullet. But this new technique to conduct background checks is troubling. See our articles on Signaling and Latkatukka. In the meantime, if your cousin is posting stuff that you would not share with your grandmother (or that you might not share with your college teacher), you might want to send him a private message call him, then lock down your privacy settings on Facebook.


Que sais-je?

• Donn Perez Fresard from Minyanville: Meet the HR Investigators Who Can Legally Check Out Your Last Seven Years on Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist and the Web.
• Kari Lipschutz, Adweek: Social Media Background Check? Uh oh.
• Tony Bradley, PC World: Your Social Networks Could Jeopardize Your Next Interview

Unfair for employers to dig into your personal life online and use it against you? 

Well, A) This is 2011, get over it. You should assume that anything you post online, send in an email, tweet, text message, or otherwise digitally communicate will eventually be seen by anyone and everyone. 

But, B) Social Intelligence is only reporting based on the social network activity that is publicly available. You have the power to lock down your online life to minimize the information available to the general public.”


Social Intelligence HR website: www.socialintelligencehr.com


Xolo