Recruiters may find themselves in a love-hate relationship with social media. Previously, we’ve addressed how it’s great for finding and attracting strong candidates, but it’s also possible to use social media to exclude candidates that might lead an employer to a more diverse workforce. Solutions to that conundrum do exist, though.
The risk of using certain social media tools is highlighted in a December 2017 lawsuit that claims certain employers used Facebook to push job ads to young people without also allowing those ads to show up on the feeds of older people. A Facebook executive defended the practice in a blog post, explaining that “microtargeted” ads should be used in broad-based recruitment efforts and aren’t inherently discriminatory, just as running employment ads in media outlets aimed at particular audiences can enhance diversity recruiting efforts.
