Social networking sites and selection decisions : the impact of privacy settings of Facebook profiles and hiring decisions.

Abstract

Social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook and LinkedIn have gained popularity in the recent years. As long ago as 2009 and recent as 2012, some organizations have required the login credentials for potential employees for some SNS to complete background checks before hiring. While this practice was short lived, it is important to assess empirically the impact that SNS have on hiring decisions. Research in this domain has been limited, but it seems of value to examine the impact that setting privacy settings in such a way as to provide no information or very limited information can have on ratings of a job candidate. According to missing information bias (cf., Jagacinski and colleagues, 1978, 1991, 1994), the ratings of candidates are lower when compared to other candidates showing complete information. Findings suggest that those with public profiles are rated more favorably and have stronger evaluations regarding characteristics and skills than those with private or no SNS profile.