Hire with confidence
The benefits of candidate social media screening
About Social Media Check
What is Social Media Check?
Social Media Check is a UK-based screening specialist and an approved app partner of major social platforms. Its consent-led technology reviews both public and private posts, reporting findings by category, so you can identify genuine risks without trawling through someone’s entire online history.
Why screening matters
Every hire is a reputational decision
One employee’s online history can undo years of brand-building. However, manual search is slow, inconsistent and legally risky. Every new hire poses a risk, from junior to senior personnel. And the costs of getting it wrong are increasingly varied and serious, from tribunal claims to reputational damage. Social Media Check turns an ad-hoc search into a fast, consistent and defensible process.
How it works
How do Social Media Check and IRIS work together?
Consent-based access via OAuth
Candidates authorise access to their own accounts securely through OAuth, so you know you’re checking the right person with their consent. No passwords are ever shared with, or seen by, Social Media Check or IRIS.
Automated checks across six platforms
Social Media Check scans public and private text and image posts across Facebook, Instagram, X, Medium, Tumblr and Flickr, with no limit on how far back the search history goes.
Risk reported across ten categories
Findings are graded against safeguarding categories including hate speech, extremist content, violent imagery and drugs, then delivered in an interactive report with a certificate, usually within the hour.
Better together
Why IRIS partners with Social Media Check
IRIS is trusted by more than 300,000 employers with the work that must never go wrong. Social Media Check protects businesses from the very first step: the hire. There’s no integration or IT project required, so you can be live within 24 hours and begin managing screenings for your whole organisation from a single account — backed by IRIS support that understands people teams.
Frequently asked questions
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Social Media Check is a fully automated, consent-based social media screening service available through the IRIS HR Marketplace. It reviews a candidate’s public and private social media posts across all the major platforms and returns an auditable report, usually within an hour.
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Yes. The social media check runs only with the candidate’s consent, given through secure OAuth, so screenings are GDPR-compliant by design. You remain the data controller, and every check produces a time-stamped, auditable record.
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Screenings are fully automated. Machine learning scans and grades every post, with no manual searching, helping to remove unconscious bias and keeping the process consistent for every candidate. Interpretation and hiring decisions always remain with you.
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Social Media Check reviews public and private text and image posts across six major platforms:
- X
- Medium
- Tumblr
- Flickr
There’s no limit on how far back the search history goes.
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Social Media Check findings are grouped by behavioural risk categories, such as hate speech, extremist content and violent imagery. Each flag is shown with the original post and date for context, and you retain a certificate for your audit trail.
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No integration or IT project is required. Social Media Check is a standalone, cloud-based service offered through the IRIS HR Marketplace, so you can be live within 24 hours and manage candidate screenings from a single account.
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No. Social Media Check complements your existing pre-employment checks. It is not a replacement for DBS, identity, right-to-work or reference checks.
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Social Media Check can be up and running within 24 hours. There’s no software to install or integration needed. A single account can manage screening across your whole organisation.
Next steps