Social media screening of job applicants and employees: ethical considerations

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The role of nurse leader comes with a lot of responsibility. Hiring and leading nurses can be difficult especially when one does not get the full picture of a person’s personality. That is why some people argue in favor of obtaining information from social networking sites (SNS). SNS offer employers a chance to see how a person behaves in their private life and how they may react to certain issues like politics and the environment. However, there are people that believe this is an invasion of privacy especially if the information used could lead to a person being dismissed or experience some other kind of corrective action. This essay will highlight some of the pros and cons of such practice and which route is best. Because technology has greatly advanced in recent decades, things like social media has begun to take hold and become more and more popular. “Advances in technology have greatly impacted on how people communicate. Prior to the existence of the postal service, people depended on messengers to deliver messages verbally. Then, people depended on word to come from others via handwritten letters” (Clark & Roberts, 2010, p. 508). With advances in technology comes the need to use such technology to collect information on employees and job applicants in order to maintain control of the company image and keep things in order. With the increase of SNS and cases of people displaying deviant behavior on these SNS, companies have now felt the need to check online behavior of their employees and job applicants on a consistent basis. In fact, more and more employers in recent years have decided to take action and conduct online checks on employees and job applicants to the point where it is quickly becoming an accepted norm within the United States. “Despite the infancy of SNSs, surveys by various entities over the last few years have found a growing trend of employers conducting online checks using SNSs for information on job applicants” (Clark & Roberts, 2010, p. 509). News stories of teachers being fired for ‘twerking’ is not generally seen as unacceptable behavior by schools and so forth. This is because whatever information is put on SNS is made available to the public unless private. And therefore, because such information is on full display to people on the internet, it is not considered negative if companies find it and take appropriate action. Those against employers ‘spying’ on employees via social media feel there is no respect for privacy. However, there is no such thing as a universal definition of privacy within the work place in the United States (Clark & Roberts, 2010). Globally however, there are some countries attempting to clarify the right to privacy. “Several countries have created or clarified a right to privacy related to human dignity as a fundamental right in their constitutions or laws. For example, UK enacted the Human Rights Act of 1988 which provides a person with respect for private life” (Clark & Roberts, 2010, p. 511). This is not what the United States has done and although there is a belief to privacy, what is really private about social media? One can display statuses and pictures to potentially hundreds of millions of people. Ultimately, because the company, business, or organization has the responsibility of making profit for its shareholders and preserving brands or a reputation with the public, this comes with the need to remove any potential problems that could cause loss of profits or loss of reputation within it. “In the USA, many job applicants, having been warned of the practice, believe it is acceptable for employers to check up on them by conducting Google searches or reviewing their SNS pages” (Clark & Roberts, 2010, p. 513). The corporate responsibility is what makes it necessary and appropriate to ‘weed out bad eggs’ by collecting information from SNS. It would be one thing if the information was not publicly available, but it is and therefore, should be considered when employers are met with maintaining an image and profitability of a company or organization. In conclusion, the age of social media is here. This means that people looking for work will most likely have a social media account somewhere. Although it may seem wrong to pry into someone else’s life, people have to be aware that what they put out there on the internet is fair game. Yes, it may feel like an invasion of privacy, but the reality is, the information these companies and employers obtain via SNS is publicly available. If people wish to stop falling prey to the idea of being observed by employers, they either need to private their social media accounts, not post on social media, or only post things that would not affect their standing in a job. Nurses in particular are needed that are level headed with a compassionate, caring personality. If nurses are discovered to have social media accounts where they behave in an inappropriate matter, it is not the fault of the employer if they decide to take corrective action based on the information they obtain. Similar to an assessment and an interview, the employer is allowed to collect information publicly available or by asking the employee and use that information to determine employment.