Threats & Violence
Public content that may indicate threatening, violent or seriously aggressive behaviour.
Social Media Checks: Smarter Insight Into Online Behaviour
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Why Social Media Checks Matter
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Traditional background checks tell you a great deal about a candidate's identity, employment history and criminal or financial background.
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But they don't necessarily identify potentially relevant behaviour taking place publicly online.
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A professional Social Media Check can help organisations:
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Relevant public information. Structured screening. Better-informed decisions.
What Is a Social Media Check?
A Social Media Check is a structured review of an individual's publicly available online presence to identify defined behaviours that may be relevant to the workplace.
Checking Your Staff uses specialist technology provided by Fama, an established social media and online screening provider.
Rather than asking an employer or recruiter to manually search through someone's social media accounts, Fama uses technology to search publicly available online sources and identify content matching defined categories of potentially relevant behaviour.
The results can then be reviewed as part of the organisation's wider recruitment or vetting process.
What Can Social Media Screening Identify?
Depending upon the screening criteria selected, relevant public online content can be assessed for behaviours including:
The purpose is not to judge someone's lifestyle, personality or ordinary personal opinions.
It is to identify publicly available information that may be genuinely relevant to an employment or risk decision.
Harassment
Potential patterns or examples of online bullying, intimidation or harassment.
Intolerance & Discrimination
Public content potentially involving discriminatory or intolerant behaviour.
Fraud & Illegal Activity
Publicly available content potentially indicating fraud, criminal activity or other relevant misconduct.
Other Workplace-Relevant Behaviour
Screening criteria can be configured to focus on behaviours relevant to an organisation's policies, code of conduct or risk profile.
Public Information – Not Private Accounts
Professional social media screening is very different from attempting to gain access to someone's private social media accounts.
The screening process focuses on publicly available online information.
It does not provide access to private messages, password-protected accounts or content that the individual has chosen to keep private.
This helps organisations take a more controlled and proportionate approach to online screening.
Why Not Just Google the Candidate?
It can be tempting for a hiring manager to search a candidate's name on Google, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social networks.
But informal searching can create problems.
The person conducting the search may see information that isn't relevant to the recruitment decision, including information relating to protected characteristics.
There is also a risk of:
Reviewing the wrong person's profile
Applying inconsistent criteria between candidates
Taking content out of context
Collecting unnecessary personal information
Allowing unconscious bias to influence recruitment decisions
Having no consistent record of what was searched or why
A professional Social Media Check provides a more structured approach focused on defined, workplace-relevant behaviours.
Technology + Human Review
Social media screening is an area where context matters.
A word, image or comment identified by technology does not automatically mean that somebody represents a risk.
Sarcasm, quotations, news stories, discussions and content shared for criticism can all potentially be misunderstood when viewed without context.
Fama combines automated technology with human review of flagged information to help reduce irrelevant results and provide more meaningful reports.
Checking Your Staff then provides the screening service within your wider employee vetting process.
Technology finds the information. People provide the context. Employers make the decision.
Who Uses Social Media Checks?
Social Media Checks can be particularly useful for organisations recruiting people into positions involving:
Roles where reputation and conduct are particularly important
Social media screening should always be relevant and proportionate to the position being considered.
Senior leadership and executive responsibility
Positions of trust
Customer-facing roles
Brand or public representation
Access to sensitive information
Security and risk-sensitive environments
Financial and professional services
Education and safeguarding environments
Why Choose Checking Your Staff?
Specialist Screening Technology
Our Social Media Checks use specialist screening technology from Fama rather than relying upon informal internet searches.
Publicly Available Information
The screening process focuses on publicly available online information rather than attempting to access private accounts.
Workplace-Relevant Screening
The objective is to identify defined behaviours relevant to workplace risk — not to report somebody's ordinary personal life or opinions.
Human Review
Technology can identify potential information quickly, but context matters. Fama combines technology with human review to help produce more relevant screening results.
Consistent Screening
A structured process allows organisations to apply defined screening criteria more consistently across candidates.
Wider Employee Vetting Available
Social Media Checks can be combined with DBS, Right to Work, employment referencing, financial screening, sanctions checks, BPSS and BS7858 screening.
Actual Experts. Real Support.
Social media screening isn't about finding something embarrassing somebody posted ten years ago.
Our Social Media Check Process
1
Request the Check
Submit the Social Media Check as part of your employee screening process.
2
Candidate Information
The information required to correctly identify the individual is provided.
3
Profile Identification
Relevant publicly available online profiles and information are identified using available candidate information.
4
Online Screening
Publicly available online sources are screened against the appropriate behaviour criteria.
5
Human Review
Potentially relevant flagged content is reviewed to help provide context and reduce irrelevant information.
6
Report
A structured report is produced containing relevant findings for review.
7
Employer Assessment
The employer considers any findings in the context of the role, its policies and the wider recruitment process.
A Social Media Check Isn't a Pass or Fail
This is important.
A Social Media Check provides information to support a decision — it shouldn't make the employment decision itself.
The existence of flagged content doesn't automatically mean that a candidate is unsuitable for employment.
Any information identified should be considered in context, including:
Whether the information can be reliably attributed to the individual
What was actually said or shared
When it occurred
The context in which it appeared
Whether it is genuinely relevant to the role
The organisation's policies and screening criteria
This is why we believe technology should support human judgement rather than replace it.
Social Media Screening & Financial Services
Online behaviour is becoming increasingly relevant within regulated environments.
From 1 September 2026, updated FCA rules and guidance broaden the circumstances in which certain non-financial misconduct can be relevant within the regulatory framework.
Public social media activity may therefore be relevant in some circumstances where it provides evidence of behaviour that creates a material regulatory concern.
This does not mean FCA-regulated organisations are required to routinely monitor every employee's social media activity.
Instead, organisations considering social media screening should take an appropriate, targeted and proportionate approach based on the role, risks and regulatory requirements.
Social Media Checks – FAQs
What is a Social Media Check?+
A Social Media Check is a structured review of publicly available online information associated with an individual. It is designed to identify defined categories of online behaviour that may be relevant to an employment or workplace-risk decision.
Which social media platforms can be checked?+
Fama searches across a wide range of publicly available online sources and social networks. The available sources can include major social media platforms as well as other publicly available online content.
Can you access someone's private social media account?+
No. Social Media Checks focus on publicly available information and do not provide access to private messages or password-protected content.
Do you simply search someone's name on Google?+
No. Professional social media screening uses specialist technology and identity information to help identify relevant profiles and content. This provides a more structured approach than an employer manually searching candidates online.
Does AI decide whether we should employ somebody?+
No. Technology is used to identify potentially relevant information. It does not replace the employer's recruitment decision or human judgement. The employer remains responsible for considering the relevance and context of any information identified.
What happens if something is found?+
Potentially relevant information is included within the screening report for consideration. Finding flagged content should not automatically result in a candidate being rejected. The employer should consider the accuracy, context, relevance and circumstances of the information as part of an appropriate recruitment process.
Can Social Media Checks be carried out on existing employees?+
Social media screening technology can also support screening of existing employees where an organisation has an appropriate reason, process and legal basis for doing so. Speak to our team about your requirements before implementing an ongoing screening programme.
Can Social Media Checks be combined with other screening?+
Yes. Social Media Checks can form part of a wider employee vetting programme incorporating DBS, Right to Work, employment referencing, financial checks, sanctions screening, BPSS and BS7858.
Get In Touch
Phone Number
0333 339 0021Email Address
enquiries@checkingyourstaff.co.ukOffice Address
Checking Your Staff
PO Box 381
Mirfield
WF14 9GB
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