Employers frequently use social media for screening candidates during the hiring process. They are more likely to find negative attributes because of human negativity bias and decreased attention spans from technology. Our brains are wired to pay more attention to unpleasant information, and we now skim information online rather than reading fully. When employers quickly view applicants' social media, their negativity bias causes greater weight to be given to any unfavorable content that may be present.

1. Why Social Media is Used
Against us in the Hiring
Process
Negativity

2. 2
Social media is used very
frequently in the hiring
process

3. 3
93% of employers do social
screening, looking at candidates
social profiles during the hiring
process(8)

4. 4
But employers use social media to find
predominantly negative attributes, and
I’m going to tell you why.

5. THE PROCESS IS AS
FOLLOWS
5
Technology is
decreasing our
attention span
So we skim
over
information,
instead of
reading in full
Which
increases the
likelihood of
negativity bias

6. 6
Technology has led to us having
lower attention spans.

7. Since the year 2000, our average attention
span has dropped from 12 seconds to 8(4)
7
The average attention span for
a goldfish is 9 seconds (4)

8. 8
Media Multitaskers pay a mental
price. They are far less likely to be
able to focus, to ignore distractions
and to remember information. (10)

9. This has led us to skim
over information instead
of reading things in full
9

10. You click on links posted on social networks, read a few
sentences, look for exciting words, and then grow restless,
scampering off to the next page you probably won't commit to (7).10

11. Humans, seem to be developing
digital brains with new circuits for
skimming through the torrent of
information online(7)
11

12. Skimming has increased the
severity of negativity bias
12

13. Negativity Bias:
your brain is simply built
with a greater sensitivity to
unpleasant news (2)
13

14. 14
70% of our thoughts every day are
negative. You need 3 positive thoughts to make
up for 1 negative one (3).

15. Negativity stays in power longer. People
pay more attention to bad rather than
good information. (6)
15

16. 16
baby
smile fun
war
cancer
bomb

17. 17
In lab experiments, flash the word
cancer,
bomb, or
war, and participants can hit a
button in response quicker than if that
word is baby,
smile, or fun. (1)

18. We are also able to recognise negative words
faster than positive words, and even tell that a
word is going to be unpleasant before we can tell
exactly what the word is going to be. (1)
18

19. So when employers are
skimming through your
social media, they are more
likely to find negative
content.
19

20. 20
“We are not digging for dirt, or hunting for drunken photos or anything.
But hey, if those pop up, it tells me the candidate doesn’t understand
data, or frankly, the web in general” – David Clarke, recruiter (9)

21. ”Research indicates that
interviewers give
unfavorable information
roughly twice the weight
of favorable information.(5)”
21

22. Then again, lets not
forget, that I, the author,
have a negativity bias too.

23. 23
1. Stafford, T. (2014, July 29). Why bad news dominates the headlines. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140728-why-is-all-the-news-bad
2. Marano, H. E. (2003, June 20). Our Brain's Negative Bias. Retrieved from
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200306/our-brains-negative-bias
3. Davis, T. (2015, December 15). Facebook and Social Media Fuel Negativity. Retrieved from
http://yourpositivitycoach.com/facebook-and-social-media-fuel-negativity/
4. McSpadden, K. (2015, May 14). Science: You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish.
Retrieved from http://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/
5. Corley, J. (2017, February 13). Is Bias Undermining Your Hiring Process? Retrieved from
https://www.recruiter.com/i/is-bias-undermining-your-hiring-process/
6. Rosen, J. (2010, July 24). The Web Means the End of Forgetting. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/magazine/25privacy-t2.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
7. Rosenwald, M. S. (2014, April 06). Serious reading takes a hit from online scanning and skimming.
Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/serious-reading-takes-a-hit-from-online-
scanning-and-skimming-researchers-say/2014/04/06/088028d2-b5d2-11e3-b899-
20667de76985_story.html
8. S. Matrix, module 5, slide 2.
9. S. Matrix, module 5, slide 10.
10. S. Matrix, module 1.
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12. All photos from Pexels (https://www.pexels.com/), Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/), and Pixaby
(https://pixabay.com/)