Posts that rebound

If you put up discriminatory comments related to race, religion or gender, or express rage on social media, beware. A CareerBuilder survey this year found 70 per cent of potential employers used social media to screen candidates and more than half didn’t hire someone because of something they saw online. Your talent or qualifications do not matter when your online past comes back to haunt you. 

Take for instance, the British hijab-wearing model and beauty blogger Amena Khan, who had to step down from L'Oréal’s hair care campaign after she received backlash for posting “anti-Israel” tweets back in 2014. Just when people were delighted that a hijab-wearing model was made the face of a mainstream advertisement came the disappointing news that Amena had stepped down. 

Explaining her actions, Amena said, “Conversations around the 2014 tweets and the ad were drawing an overwhelming amount of negative attention — which is not my goal on this platform. I’m a different person to who I was in 2014 — arguing and drama is something I steer clear of, both offline and online, even if it means giving up something amazing.”

Sania Bano, an IT staffing recruiter at Innocore Solutions, Banjara Hills, is aspiring to become a hijab model. She says, “I think Amena’s opinion was personal, whereas her modelling assignments are professional. People should not mix one’s personal and professional opinions. I am a different person when I am at work and when I am with my friends or family. I cannot be thinking solely about my job 24/7.”

Footballer Andre Gray was banned for four games and fined after he had shared homophobic tweets

In the past, Tarun Vijay of the BJP had apologised after he suggested that Indians cannot be considered racist because they are accepting of South Indians. On the other hand, Twitter users had expressed outrage after People magazine named Blake Shelton their Sexiest Man Alive of 2017. People were upset over old tweets by the country music singer that they deemed racist, homophobic and misogynistic. YouTube star Zoella had faced a similar backlash when she reportedly posted a tweet with homophobic language.

Youngsters in the city have also been subjected to social media background checks. Krishank Manne, a student leader and PhD Journalism student, became an overnight celebrity after he put up a tweet asking Ivanka Trump to come and witness Marredpally roads during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES). Sharing his experience, he says, “During the Telangana agitation, I had applied for an internship and my application was rejected as there was Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) in my email ID. In another instance, I had applied at a media organisation and was asked to take down my Facebook post. This is curbing freedom of speech.” He adds, “Even educational institutions check social media posts. However, opinions are personal and shouldn’t come in the way of one’s profession. People should be given the opportunity to highlight small issues on social media; we are not making posts against the President or Prime Minister.”

Social activist and IT professional Shashidhar Vuppala realised that random social media checks were being done after he attended an interview with an MNC and was asked how he would concentrate on the job if he took up social causes and fought for them.

“I had never mentioned this in my resume or during the interview, but they got to know. It’s not fair to judge someone solely through social media and reject them. Each person is entitled to their own opinion,” says Shashidhar.

Sai Praneeth Reddy, student ambassador, United Nations Youth Assembly, says that freedom of speech should not be taken for granted. “One needs to be careful while posting something on social media. Even if the post doesn’t make a huge difference in society, it will tarnish the person’s image. Posting controversial statements against other nations would definitely be offensive to many,” he says.

Educational institutions also carry out background checks. Siddharth Shekar Singh, Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Marketing, Indian School of Business (ISB) says that thorough background research that includes what one says online would increase in the coming days. “Just as a company wants employees to reflect its cherished values, a university wants to admit a diverse set of students as long as they meet minimum criteria. A school is less likely to consider social media posts unless they are clearly unacceptable and brought to notice.”

Ramana Sonti, Assistant Dean Admissions and Clinical Assistant Professor of Finance agrees that agencies are hired to do a background check of students. But he’s quick to add, “It’s only a verification procedure. A student might say he’s passed out from a university and how are we to know? That’s the reason we do a background check.”

When online history haunts you
1 Hijab model Amena Khan stepped down from L’Oreal’s campaign due to her “anti-Israel” tweets. 
2 Mason Holgate, a player for Everton in the Premier League, had accused an opponent, Liverpool’s Robert Firmino, of calling him racial slurs during a recent match. He himself is now facing the threat of a charge and ban over allegedly homophobic Twitter posts he made in 2012-13. 
3 Blake Shelton was slammed for his homophobic tweets after he was made People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2017.
4 YouTube star Zoella had faced backlash when she reportedly posted a tweet with homophobic language.
5 Footballer Andre Gray was banned for four games and fined £25,000 when he was at Burnley after homophobic tweets he posted in 2012 were uncovered.
6 The editor of Gay Times magazine, Josh Rivers, was sacked after offensive racist and homophobic tweets.
7 Toby Young had to step down from the Office for Students with an apology for his misogynistic and homophobic comments.