Social Media: The Latest Tool in Background Checks

So, Kirby might possibly have found a potential renter. Apparently, her credit doesn't look too good. However, she has passed muster with Kirby on the intrinsic tests, has been gainfully employed for the past 16 years with the same company and has made a significantly positive first impression. Kirby liked her enough to ask me what I thought. My response: what is her name and date of birth?

The reason was simple: I wanted to check her out on my fake Facebook account. I wanted to see how she communicated. I wanted to know what she was posting for the world to read. I wanted to know if she whined about her lot in life. I wanted to know if she made lemon chiffon pie out of lemons.

I wanted to know what kind of friends she had. Did her friends speak and act ghetto? It turns out most of her 194 friends don't. Instead, they wax poetic about Alabama Football and Jesus--the two staples of polite Alabama society.

It turns out that this potential tenant and my fake Facebook persona had one friend in common. That common friend is also an upstanding Facebook poster as well. Good to know.

On the down side, the potential tenant has a young adult daughter who will be living with her. The young adult daughter's Facebook posts weren't as honorable as the woman who was applying for the home. Kirby wasn't terribly impressed with the daughter either, which means I am not impressed.

The potential tenant hasn't been approved just yet. She doesn't have the deposit, and won't until September 24. A lot can happen between now and then. So, Kirby is showing the place--just in case someone else, who also has Facebook friends who write about Jesus and Alabama Football, can bring the deposits to him first.