Social media, big data, and employment decisions: Mo' data, mo' problems?

Abstract

Big data and analytics are popular "buzzwords" gathering momentum in the academic literature and trade journals. While the exact definition of big data and analytics remains widely debated, it cannot be argued that the predictive power and obscure trends that big data and analytics can reveal have the potential to transform the field of human resources. Organizations, looking for new ways to collect and harness big data, are scouring the Internet in search of untapped outlets of information about job applicants and automated ways to use social media for recruiting and selection, and are using analytics on their internal big data generated by internal social media and intranets to improve their performance management systems and internal processes. However, there are a number of questions surrounding the accuracy, ethics, and legality of big data and analytics in human resources. This chapter will discuss the implications of using big data and analytics in making employment decisions, the potential they have to revolutionize the industry, and the possible unforeseen consequences of their use.