Social Media Check: Protect your employer brand
Protecting your employer brand: How an Advanced Social Media Check can help
Your employer brand is your business card in the talent market. It’s what attracts top talent and inspires confidence in your clients. But in a world where candidates are carefully curating resumes and interviews, your brand can be left vulnerable to what’s hiding in plain sight – online.
As of 2024, 78.3% of Australians are active social media users, with Facebook and Instagram alone reaching over 35 million combined users. And with 70% of employers now checking candidates’ online presence, social media screening isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s essential.
‘A CV only tells one part of the story,’ says Neil Rose, CEO of Referoo. ‘Digital behaviour often reveals a much more accurate picture of who a person really is and how they’ll represent your brand in the real world.’
Your employer brand is more than just a logo
Why reputation matters in the talent market
Your reputation travels faster than ever before. In a single click, candidates can read your Glassdoor reviews, research your leadership team and decide whether your company aligns with their values. In fact, 82% of candidates say they look into a CEO’s online presence before accepting a role.
Your brand isn’t just your colours or tagline; it’s your people. The right hire reinforces your employer brand. The wrong one can undermine years of hard work in seconds.
How one bad hire can have a ripple effect
A single hire with poor judgement, discriminatory views or links to questionable online activity can have far-reaching effects, from internal conflict to viral PR disasters.
Imagine onboarding a high-level exec who later turns out to have posted extremist content, or employing a healthcare professional who has publicly spread misinformation. These are real risks. And they’re happening now.
‘We’ve seen situations in the media where organisations face public backlash for overlooking obvious online red flags,’ says Rose. ‘Our job is to help make those red flags visible, before they become headlines.’
What is a Social Media Check?
Going beyond the resume
A Social Media Check is a screening process that assesses publicly available social content for behaviours and opinions that may signal risk to your business, workplace culture or brand. It goes beyond formal qualifications or reference checks to uncover insights into how a candidate behaves when they think no one’s watching.
What a standard Social Media Check covers
Basic social media screening typically identifies:
- content from the past 5 years using 8–12 key behavioural indicators
- adverse public content flagged with a snapshot of the post, the original date and whether it was a like, share or original post
- content across 5–7 unique platforms.
While helpful, standard checks often miss subtler indicators, especially when candidates are careful with what they post or hide behind aliases and hidden accounts.
Introducing the Advanced Digital Footprint Check
What makes it different from a standard Social Media Check?
Referoo’s Advanced Digital Footprint Check offers a deeper layer of intelligence. It goes beyond surface-level screening and into hard-to-access areas like the dark web, alias-linked profiles and global threat networks, providing a detailed picture of a candidate’s digital behaviour.
This check is particularly effective at identifying hidden risks that a basic social media check could never uncover, such as undisclosed accounts, links to high-risk individuals or groups, and concerning behaviour in short-form video content and intent coded behind emojis.
What you don’t know can hurt your business
- Unmatched data coverage: Covering billions of data points across millions of data sources to reveal hidden risks at speed.
- Alias and hidden profile detection: Finds undisclosed accounts linked to emails or phone numbers.
- Known associate mapping: Reveals links to high-risk individuals or groups.
‘It’s not uncommon for candidates to present professionally on platforms like LinkedIn, while their activity elsewhere tells a different story,’ says Rose. ‘This check helps employers uncover those inconsistencies and make more informed decisions.’
Behavioural risk factors you can’t afford to miss
Referoo’s Advanced Digital Footprint Check analyses candidates across 28 distinct behavioural indicators, surfacing online content that could pose a risk to your business. These aren’t just basic checks; they’re targeted, detailed insights designed to uncover patterns that may otherwise go unnoticed.
Some of the risk factors assessed include:
- Toxic and aggressive content: Insults, profanity and online abuse that could indicate bullying or hostile behaviour.
- Violence, weapons and public safety concerns: Threats, violent imagery or references to firearms.
- Sexual misconduct and explicit content: From racy posts to inappropriate comments.
- Criminal associations: Links to property crimes, drug offences or organised networks.
- Financial red flags: Indicators of fraud, financial instability or unethical practices.
- Mental health and substance abuse concerns: Identifying concerning language or patterns that may require further attention.
- Cybercrime exposure: Involvement in hacking forums or other illicit online activity.
- Political and religious extremism: Affiliations or content that may raise compliance or reputational concerns.
- Human rights violations or discriminatory views: Content that contradicts your business's commitment to inclusion and integrity.
The assessment also leverages video content analysis and emoji pattern recognition to detect nuanced behaviours across short-form video platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, providing insight into how candidates communicate, even without words.
‘The level of detail the Advanced Digital Footprint Check provides gives businesses confidence,’ says Rose. ‘It’s not about policing opinions; it’s about flagging behaviours that can genuinely pose a risk to your people and operations.’
Industry use cases: Protect your workforce and business reputation
For C-suite and executive hires
Senior leaders are the public face of your brand. A CEO’s tweet or LinkedIn comment can influence shareholder value. This check protects your organisation from reputational damage by revealing extremist views, online misconduct or unethical associations early.
In education
With student safety and institutional trust on the line, schools and universities must ensure that staff are not engaging in inappropriate online behaviour. This includes detecting grooming behaviours, cyberbullying or derogatory content involving children or marginalised groups.
In financial services
The finance sector faces high compliance standards. This check can help identify candidates with connections to financial misconduct, money laundering rings or radicalised online communities.
In healthcare
Healthcare workers hold a duty of care. Online behaviour that spreads medical misinformation, expresses racist views or breaches patient confidentiality can endanger both patients and the organisation.
Why Referoo for Social Media Checks?
Smarter screening without the admin hassle
We’ve taken the manual effort out of advanced screening. With automated assessments and easy-to-read reports, Referoo delivers insight fast, freeing your team to focus on making smart hiring decisions.
Ethical, compliant and comprehensive
We operate in line with Australian Privacy Law, GDPR and relevant employment legislation. All checks are consent-led and free from bias, ensuring fairness and legal compliance at every step.
‘We make sure our technology is fair and ethical,’ Neil Rose says. ‘It’s about highlighting risk, not judging personality.’
Social media screening is no longer optional
Your business reputation depends on it
When 62% of organisations say social media checks help protect their employer brand, the message is clear: reputation starts with who you hire. Surface-level screening isn’t enough anymore.
From frontline staff to your boardroom, every person you hire reflects your business. Referoo’s Advanced Digital Footprint Check empowers you to hire with confidence, knowing you’ve done the due diligence to protect your people, clients and reputation.
‘We’re giving employers access to the data they need,’ says Neil. ‘It’s about making more confident, informed decisions in an unpredictable world.’
Schedule your demo and see the difference
Experience how our Advanced Digital Footprint Check can enhance your hiring process.