In a world where social media runs rampant, even digital footprints are considered in the hiring process. Have you ever hired an employee only to later discover an outlandish social media account that caused problems for your organization?  

Screening an applicant’s social media can help ensure your enterprise’s reputation remains protected from problematic online behavior. But those same applicants are also free to express themselves during non-working hours. So, how do you balance social screening and privacy laws?  

The solution is choosing the best social media background check software for your purposes. Below, we’ll share how to choose the right one for your organization’s needs and how it benefits the bottom line.  

Table of Contents 

• The Benefits and Implications of Social Media Screening 
• How to Evaluate Social Media Screening Platforms 
• The Top 8 Social Media Screening Platforms to Consider in 2024 
  

The Benefits and Implications of Social Media Screening 

Why do I need a social media screening service when I can look them up myself?  

The difference between social media screening and manual searches is their legal standing. Social media screenings examine public profiles, looking at the content posted, engagements, and shares.  

Social media screening adheres to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to prevent potential bias for fair hiring assessments. Various legal implications can occur from improper social background checks. 

Benefits 

When you hire a new employee, you have to be able to trust them with the role and your brand. Even if posted on a personal account, anyone tied to your brand can cause significant damage.  

Most people have social media accounts on various platforms, making hiring applicants more complex. Social media screenings benefit talent acquisition by: 

• • • • Protecting your brand’s image from an employee’s inappropriate online behavior—especially in high-stakes industries like government and finance. 
      • Improving your hiring process to ensure that you hire professionals who are a great culture fit . 
      • Reducing costly inefficiencies like extending employee benefits packages to people who don’t stay, as well as other turnover costs. 

Hiring talent doesn’t have to be a leap of faith with social media screening software.  

Implications 

Social media evaluations must only focus on job-related results to prevent legal risks. Common implications include: 

• • • • Discrimination lawsuits based on protected classes, like race and gender. 
      • Lack of social media screening policies governing the information reviewed and who reviews it. 
      • Non-compliance with federal, state, and local privacy laws may limit what you can screen. 

While serious risks are involved with improperly use of a social media background check, proper use can strengthen the hiring process significantly.  

Recommended Webinar: Social Media Unveiled - A Critical Tool for Background Screening

How to Evaluate Social Media Screening Platforms 

Social media screening software is vital to efficient human capital management. But not every service platform will be a good fit for your company. 

Here’s what to consider when choosing the best social media background check provider for your organization. 

Price 

Some platforms offer monthly subscriptions or customized flat-rate plans. Confirm whether the price is worth the value by evaluating key features, FCRA compliance, ease of use, and customer reviews. 

Features 

Understanding must-have features can help you make a better-informed decision on the best social media screening platform for your hiring needs. Features to evaluate include: 

• • • • FCRA, local, and state privacy standard compliance
      • Risk content categories like violent comments and bigoted videos 
      • Comprehensive social media searches on all popular channels, including TikTok and LinkedIn 
      • Industry-specific capabilities, like flagging bank account information posts for finance sectors 

Customer Support 

Ongoing customer support for onboarding and unexpected issues that may arise is crucial to maximizing platform benefits. 

Check customer support ratings and determine if the company is easy to contact. Finding a human to talk to or get answers from your provider shouldn't be challenging. 

The Top 8 Social Media Screening Platforms to Consider in 2024

1. Cisive

Cisive specializes in employment-based social media background checks. Our platform finds the best talent using social media capabilities that other platforms don’t always offer.  

Audit talent from anywhere with access available on a computer, tablet, and smartphone. The customizable platform design fits into your hiring processes, not vice versa.  

Your enterprise won’t have to worry about class action lawsuits or data breaches with Cisive's 99.9994% accuracy.  

Key Features 

• • Comprehensive reviews of candidate social posts, blogs, photos, and videos—including friend tags for a complete picture of the candidate’s online persona 
  • Social tracking graphs for content and profiles that candidates engage with to ensure that their activity is also appropriate  
  • In-depth social search results from public records with FCRA compliance to prevent privacy violations  

Cisive tailors pricing packages so you don’t overpay for unused features, allowing you to fully align your services with your organization's goals.  

3. HireRight

Along with a variety of criminal and global screening services, HireRight  is a consumer reporting platform with employee social media background checks.  

Key Features 

• • FCRA compliance-driven social audits to protect your company from accidental discriminatory practices  
  • Easy integration with applicant-tracking systems, like Bamboo HR, for simple onboarding 
  • Social search capabilities, including public profiles, likes, comments, and shares for cross-channel accessibility 

Potential downsides to consider are that HireRight is available only on desktop and has a complex user experience. Customer reviews share that users must enter large amounts of data to complete background checks.  

HireRight offers subscription-based pricing starts at $36.47 per month. 

3. Good Egg

Good Egg is an employment-based background check platform with social screening services. The platform is designed to integrate with various HR and ATS systems, helping to streamline the addition of their services into your existing workflows.  

Key Features 

• • Pre-screening applicants and post-hire social monitoring as a one-time or continuing service to try before you buy 
  • The ability to bundle with other background check services to save money 
  • Fama Technologies AI screening provider to automate FCRA compliance 

A potential downside is the lack of mobile compatibility –users cannot e-sign document.  

For pricing information, users will need to request a quote as Good Egg's pricing isn't available online.  

4. Intelius

Intelius is a designated platform for comprehensive background check reports. The platform is designed for both individual and company use.  

Key Features 

• • Detailed people search tools, like reverse phone numbers and social media accounts, for simple screening 
  • Candidate access to social media screening results for transparent hiring  
  • Advanced search filters with AI-powered technologies to save you time on social media background checks  

A key point and disadvantage of Intelius is that it isn’t FCRA-compliant because it’s a consumer-based background check platform.  

Pricing is $42.23 per month but does not include every service, with available add-ons like downloadable reports.  

5. VN Secure

VN Secure is Viral Nation’s background check platform, offering live and historical monitoring. With adjustable tolerance levels and the ability to establish flags for content types that your organization would struggle with, this platform provides in-depth social monitoring.  

Key Features 

• • Customizable social media checks based on selected risk categories to align with your brand’s values 
  • AI-search capabilities to automate flagged social media posts for streamlined assessments 
  • Social analysis in 13 languages for screening global talent 

A possible disadvantage of VN Secure is its pricing structure. They charge a flat rate, regardless of the size of your business. This could benefit larger companies who might pay more elsewhere, however, smaller companies may pay for features they don't need.  

6. Peopletrail

Peopletrail is a pre-employment screening platform featuring in-depth Facebook and Instagram searches. Users can search content for language, violence, and illicit or sexual posts.  

Key Features 

• • FCRA and EEOC-compliant social media screening to ensure fair-chance hiring practices 
  • AI analysis of social media posts to automate the screening processes 
  • Evaluating top social platforms like Facebook and Instagram to obtain all necessary information 

A potential downside is there’s no mobile version of Peopletrail, restricting users to accessing and requesting information from their main computer.  

Pricing packages depend on what you are looking for. Speaking with a member of their team allows them direct you to a solution that meets your needs.  

7. BeenVerified

BeenVerified is a public information platform that allows users to run reverse username searches. This platform benefits candidates in its ability to identify social media accounts attached to them. This can be particularly helpful for users who may have forgotten accounts that contain questionable content.  

Key Features 

• • People search capabilities, like social media username searches, to gain deeper candidate insights 
  • Finding social media accounts using email addresses and photos for streamlined searches 
  • Reports of social media comments and personal details to better assess online activity 

A disadvantage is that BeenVerified is designed for personal use only. If you are looking for a hiring tool, a professional social media background check platform should be the foundation of your screening process.

8. First Advantage

First Advantage is a global background check software offering a variety of services from motor vehicle record (MVR) checks to social media screenings. Partnered with FAMA, their social media screening utilizes AI to search public channel for customizable search criteria. 

Key Features 

• • Mobile application to access social media screening reports from all devices 
  • Evaluates all employees, freelancers and third-party vendors to protect your enterprise’s integrity from everyone you interact with 
  • AI screening to flag negative social media searches quickly 

Small business packages are $29 per candidate, but larger businesses must contact First Advantage for further pricing. 

Disadvantages include delayed results from common names, aliases and customer reviews indicating inaccurate work.  

Gain a Deeper Understanding of Your Candidates With Cisive 

Cisive is among the best social media background check and employee screening platforms. Our software helps you find the best talent with accurate and compliant results to promote more remarkable organizational growth. 

Speak with a Cisive expert today to review your screening processes and gain recommended optimizations to improve your background check processes.