1 Out of 5 Employers Has Rejected a Job Applicant Because of Their Social Media Profile

Can you believe it? It turns out that one out of every five employers has said no to a person applying for a job simply because of what they saw on their social media profile. Can you imagine how that feels? I can’t help but wonder why they would do such a thing.

I mean, it’s not like we can control everything that appears on our social media accounts. We share our lives, but does that really reflect who we truly are? It’s just a tiny window into our world, but it seems like that’s all they need to judge us.

It makes me wonder if we should be more careful about what we post online. Maybe we should think twice before hitting that post button. After all, you never know who might be watching and making decisions about our future based on a single picture or comment.

But at the same time, it feels unfair, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t we have the freedom to be ourselves without fearing judgment from potential employers? It seems like there should be more to hiring someone than just what they share on social media.

So, my friend, let’s remember to be mindful of what we put out into the digital world. It may seem harmless at the time, but it could come back to haunt us when we least expect it. And who knows, maybe someday things will change, and employers will see us for who we truly are, beyond our online presence.

Social media has made it hard to separate our personal and work lives. And now, businesses are checking out our online profiles when they’re considering hiring us or when we’re already working for them. So, what does this mean for us?

A recent survey by WhoIsHostingThis? reveals that more than 1 in 5, or 22%, of people in charge of hiring have rejected applicants because of what they found on their social media accounts. This includes pictures, posts, videos, and even audio recordings.

Whether it’s fair or not for employers to use our personal social media content to judge us is a big question. But the truth is, as long as it’s out there online, anyone can see it. In his report, Frank Moraes poses a crucial question for our digital world today.

Have you ever thought about how much stuff you have online? And have you ever considered deleting some of it? I read a really interesting article by Moraes that got me thinking about this. He said, In the digital world, everything is saved forever. But sometimes, that can be a problem. How many of us cringe at old posts or pictures that don’t represent who we are anymore?

To find out how many people would actually delete their old online content, a survey asked 947 people about their digital hoarding habits on social media and personal devices.

Watch Out for Digital Hoarding

It turns out, worrying about old content is a big deal. About 1 in 10 people in the survey said their past posts or pictures have been used against them. And guess what? They knew it could happen.

When it comes to work, more than half of people (51%) worry that the things they share online can be used against them. And you know what? Sometimes that worry is justified. It’s hard to believe, but a whopping 66% of people say that their managers have used photos against them. Can you imagine?

But it’s not just photos that can get you in trouble. Oh no, it’s text posts too. Surprisingly, 65% of people have had their managers use something they wrote on social media against them. Yikes! And let’s not forget about videos. A good chunk of people (45%) have had their bosses use videos against them. Talk about feeling exposed!

Finally, audio recordings can also be used against you. It’s not as common, but 15% of people have had their employers use something they said on a recording against them. It just goes to show that you never know who’s listening!

image: WhoIsHostingThis? It’s a big concern for me to think that other people could use my content without my permission. According to some people surveyed, they worry that the government (49%) or their relationships (47%) could take advantage of their content. It’s even more troubling to know that my social media content has been used in other situations. This includes conversations with friends (47%), significant others (37%), family discussions (26%), work (18%), and even criminal or legal situations.

How Much Content Do You Have?

Your online content and personal device are both vulnerable to cyberattacks. If you or the company that has your content doesn’t have the right security measures in place, your data is at risk. That’s why it’s important for you to carefully evaluate your content.

image: WhoIsHostingThis? When it comes to social media, 80% of us say we’ll never get rid of our photos, videos, and posts. But it’s crucial to know that employers and others can still see all that stuff unless you make your channel private.

People are still holding onto old social media accounts that they don’t even use anymore. And it’s important to remember that as long as the account still exists online, anyone can access the information.

Some of the popular platforms where people keep these inactive accounts are Myspace (69%), Photobucket (69%), Blogger (64%), Flickr (63%), and Tumblr (59%).

Deleting Your Content

Deleting content from social media can be way more difficult than it should be. Facebook and Twitter make it challenging to remove large batches of content, forcing you to use external applications if you have a lot to delete.

But even if deleting is hard, people still have various reasons for keeping their content. On personal devices, 74% of us don’t want to delete memories, although that drops to 54% when it comes to social media.

While many of us hold onto certain records, the percentage drops to 32% when we simply don’t care enough to delete the content. Some reasons for keeping the content include other people needing to see it (56%) or just considering the idea of deleting (37%).

When it comes to social media, I haven’t really thought about deleting the stuff I’ve shared. Actually, a lot of people (55% of them!) feel the same way. They just haven’t really considered getting rid of what they’ve posted. And get this, almost the same number of people (54%) say that what they’ve shared isn’t even sensitive.

But here’s the thing, just deleting your posts isn’t enough. You have to be careful about what you post in the first place and make sure you protect your information. It’s super important to be cautious about what you share on your social media and only let your family and friends see it. But you know what? You need to take it a step further than that. You should always change your password frequently to make sure your accounts stay secure. And don’t forget to deactivate those old accounts and delete those old posts. It’s all about keeping yourself safe online.