5 ms·

A good reason to not have social media. Thinking if my vent post will upset a future employer on a Saturday afternoon is not the future I want.

tmaly 1y ago
at some point the AI based searching is going to just make it that much easier to incorporate social posts on any background checks.
esseph 1y ago
Then they get upset that you either don't have socials (antisocial, don't hire), or hide them (untrustworthy, don't hire). It's awful. I think the best thing is maybe a fake profile you touch once a year.
- _swfb 1y ago
  Outside of some jobs requiring LinkedIn, I've never actually heard of anyone being declined for not having social media. I haven't had a Facebook account since 2015, I don't have an Instagram and I hadn't updated my Twitter for years until I deleted it (about two hours ago). As far as I'm aware, a lack of social media presence hasn't been a factor. Only social media I have now is Hacker News.
  - esseph 1y ago
    You wouldn't know if you were declined, you'd just be another application they wouldn't respond to, or just get a generic message
    - _swfb 1y ago
      Yeah that's fair. It's probably still better overall to have no social media compared to social media with edgy takes.
  - oinfoalgo 1y ago
    I think lack of social media makes me stand out. I always say I am the type of person who would post too often so instead of having social media I just read non-fiction books. So far no one has held being well read against me. Often, it flips to a book recommendation actually. At that point good luck with your social media when I pick a book that fits perfectly in with the marketing of myself getting the job, create a whole interesting conversation in that direction, while they read some inane nonsense from the social media poster.
  - Terretta 1y ago
    > I've never actually heard of anyone being declined for not having social media In late June 2025, the US announced that for inbound students from abroad it will be screening socials, and lack of an unlocked social footprint may be a disqualifier. This brings the gov in line with private industry, as employers that do actual background checks (as opposed to, say, credit checks) are shown flags if socials are all locked or none exist. This matters most in industries which are required by their regulators to do and/or maintain backgrounds.
    - _swfb 1y ago
      Oh my. I'm not sure why that would be suspicious. If I were planning nefarious stuff, it's not like it would be hard for me to make have a social media presence to fly under the radar.
_swfb 1y ago
I was declined from a job recently specifically because I wrote a blog post about my history with depression and medication for it [1]. That's not me justifying after the fact, they actually told me this. I took down most of the posts on my blog that were personal as a result. Most of the stuff on there now is just technical stuff that I'm not too worried about being attached to my name. [1] To be clear, the blog post was only talking about prescribed medication, I've never done any illegal drugs and I've never been an alcoholic, I'm not speaking in code for "self medicating".
- OkayPhysicist 1y ago
  Hope you got that in writing, because that is a hell of a ADA lawsuit you've got there.
  - _swfb 1y ago
    This company doesn't have fifteen employees so I don't think I'd have much recourse regardless, but it was over the phone and it wasn't recorded. It would be my word against theirs. I did end up reporting them to the NYC Department of Labor, though. Of course, they were just the ones stupid enough to be honest about it. I have no idea how many jobs I've been declined for where they just gave me a generic form letter.
- AnalLubeInvader 1y ago
  [flagged]
ativzzz 1y ago
A good reason to have an anonymous account to post negative things on. Never post honest negativity under your real name. Unless you work for yourself or your vulnerability is a sort of marketing, you're only hurting yourself. Make an anon account, vent as much as you want. If I'm hiring someone, I want to like working with them, and if I find them ranting online, I just mark them as negative and pessimistic. I can't help it - that's human nature
- _swfb 1y ago
  > If I'm hiring someone, I want to like working with them, and if I find them ranting online, I just mark them as negative and pessimistic. I can't help it - that's human nature I understand this, but we can agree that this kind of sucks, doesn't it? Everyone has bad days where they're frustrated about something and could write something a bit cynical in the process. I don't think that's reflective of their entire personality. From Ted Lasso: > I hope that either all of us or none of us are judged by the actions of our weakest moments… but rather by the strength we show when, and if we’re ever given a second chance Dunno, obviously you don't want someone who's a downer all the time, but I feel like the permanence of the internet can skew perspectives.
  - ativzzz 1y ago
    Sure, but when I've spent 30 mins talking to you and you look the same on paper as the other 5 competent candidates and I need to make a choice on who to hire, any data point that portrays you negatively is an easy way to narrow my decision.

tmaly 1y ago

at some point the AI based searching is going to just make it that much easier to incorporate social posts on any background checks.

esseph 1y ago

Then they get upset that you either don't have socials (antisocial, don't hire), or hide them (untrustworthy, don't hire). It's awful. I think the best thing is maybe a fake profile you touch once a year.

_swfb 1y ago
Outside of some jobs requiring LinkedIn, I've never actually heard of anyone being declined for not having social media. I haven't had a Facebook account since 2015, I don't have an Instagram and I hadn't updated my Twitter for years until I deleted it (about two hours ago). As far as I'm aware, a lack of social media presence hasn't been a factor. Only social media I have now is Hacker News.
- esseph 1y ago
  You wouldn't know if you were declined, you'd just be another application they wouldn't respond to, or just get a generic message
  - _swfb 1y ago
    Yeah that's fair. It's probably still better overall to have no social media compared to social media with edgy takes.
- oinfoalgo 1y ago
  I think lack of social media makes me stand out. I always say I am the type of person who would post too often so instead of having social media I just read non-fiction books. So far no one has held being well read against me. Often, it flips to a book recommendation actually. At that point good luck with your social media when I pick a book that fits perfectly in with the marketing of myself getting the job, create a whole interesting conversation in that direction, while they read some inane nonsense from the social media poster.
- Terretta 1y ago
  > I've never actually heard of anyone being declined for not having social media In late June 2025, the US announced that for inbound students from abroad it will be screening socials, and lack of an unlocked social footprint may be a disqualifier. This brings the gov in line with private industry, as employers that do actual background checks (as opposed to, say, credit checks) are shown flags if socials are all locked or none exist. This matters most in industries which are required by their regulators to do and/or maintain backgrounds.
  - _swfb 1y ago
    Oh my. I'm not sure why that would be suspicious. If I were planning nefarious stuff, it's not like it would be hard for me to make have a social media presence to fly under the radar.

_swfb 1y ago

I was declined from a job recently specifically because I wrote a blog post about my history with depression and medication for it [1]. That's not me justifying after the fact, they actually told me this. I took down most of the posts on my blog that were personal as a result. Most of the stuff on there now is just technical stuff that I'm not too worried about being attached to my name. [1] To be clear, the blog post was only talking about prescribed medication, I've never done any illegal drugs and I've never been an alcoholic, I'm not speaking in code for "self medicating".

OkayPhysicist 1y ago
Hope you got that in writing, because that is a hell of a ADA lawsuit you've got there.
- _swfb 1y ago
  This company doesn't have fifteen employees so I don't think I'd have much recourse regardless, but it was over the phone and it wasn't recorded. It would be my word against theirs. I did end up reporting them to the NYC Department of Labor, though. Of course, they were just the ones stupid enough to be honest about it. I have no idea how many jobs I've been declined for where they just gave me a generic form letter.
AnalLubeInvader 1y ago
[flagged]

ativzzz 1y ago

A good reason to have an anonymous account to post negative things on. Never post honest negativity under your real name. Unless you work for yourself or your vulnerability is a sort of marketing, you're only hurting yourself. Make an anon account, vent as much as you want. If I'm hiring someone, I want to like working with them, and if I find them ranting online, I just mark them as negative and pessimistic. I can't help it - that's human nature

_swfb 1y ago
> If I'm hiring someone, I want to like working with them, and if I find them ranting online, I just mark them as negative and pessimistic. I can't help it - that's human nature I understand this, but we can agree that this kind of sucks, doesn't it? Everyone has bad days where they're frustrated about something and could write something a bit cynical in the process. I don't think that's reflective of their entire personality. From Ted Lasso: > I hope that either all of us or none of us are judged by the actions of our weakest moments… but rather by the strength we show when, and if we’re ever given a second chance Dunno, obviously you don't want someone who's a downer all the time, but I feel like the permanence of the internet can skew perspectives.
- ativzzz 1y ago
  Sure, but when I've spent 30 mins talking to you and you look the same on paper as the other 5 competent candidates and I need to make a choice on who to hire, any data point that portrays you negatively is an easy way to narrow my decision.