An uncertainty reduction approach to applicant information-seeking in social media: Effects on attributions and hiring

Abstract

Increasingly social media are being used to learn about job applicants. Supplementing and sometimes replacing traditional materials (e.g., applications, cover letters, resumes), social media offer information of a unique nature to employers that can affect perceptions and attributions of applicants. This chapter approaches information seeking in employment through the lens of uncertainty reduction theory, exploring the affordances of extracting information from social media, the value of information therein, and the effects of the relational contexts, social media can isolate and span. With some noted limitations, social media reflect new tools for employers to obtain or supplement information to predict an individual's potential to perform job-related tasks and compliment the social structure of the organization.