Social and professional networking sites have become enormously popular ways to connect with friends and colleagues. MySpace™ has 73 million American users, Facebook™ has 36 million U.S. members and LinkedIn™ has 17 million members.

As a result, social networking sites present a tempting source of information for employers. 60 to 70 percent of hiring managers are currently doing online background checks of prospective candidates, often before they contact them for an initial interview.

But screening candidates by reading their online profiles presents numerous legal and ethical challenges for businesses, recruiters and hiring managers.

Employers who choose to use these and other social networking sites, such as Twitter™, must use care to avoid attaining and using information in a discriminatory way. They need to ensure that they are in compliance and do not break privacy laws, as well as be sure that the information obtained is accurate.

The leading social networking sites

* MySpace is a popular international social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos for teens and adults. It's owned by Fox Interactive Media, which is owned by News Corporation.

* Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg while he was still a student at Harvard Univerity. Users can join networks organized by city, school, workplace and region to connect and interact with others. Website membership was initially only available to Harvard students, but now has more than 80 million active users worldwide.

* LinkedIn is a site mainly used for professional networking. The purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. The people in the list are called Connections. Users can invite anyone to become a connection.

Pitfalls of using social and professional networking sites to screen job candidates

Some employers may feel that they should take advantage of the "free" information that is available on these sites. Before employers use information obtained from these sites they need to consider:

• The use of personal information
• Accessibility issues
• Accuracy of information
• Privacy compliance

It is important that hiring managers not discriminate against a candidate because they included something strange on a social network website. Many candidates post indiscreet photos or share too much information about their religious and political beliefs, sexual preferences, age, marital status or unusual hobbies in their profiles. However, it's illegal for employers to consider these factors when making their hiring decisions.

"Pretexting" is another risk to avoid. Employers should never set up a fake identity in order to join a candidate's friends' network and gain access to their information. In addition, it's often difficult to determine if you're reading the profile of the job applicant or someone else with a similar name.

The best practice is to perform an Internet search on a candidate only after a conditional job offer is made, and only if you disclose that you will be doing an online background check.

Consequences of misusing the information on social and professional networking websites include discrimination lawsuits and claims of invasion of privacy from job applicants.

A safer alternative

For an affordable, safer way to vet potential employees, it's best to rely on a professional pre-employment screening firm. These firms offer unbiased and accurate employee information screens for:

• Employment
• Criminal Records
• Driving Records
• Drug Testing
• Social Security Number
• Worker's Compensation
• Licenses & Credentials
• Education
• Credit Profile

Any information on an applicant's background needs to be handled in a legal and confidential manner. The reality is that Human Resources or a business owner will not have the time to weed out the good from the bad information obtained through social and professional networking websites. Even if they had the time, they may not know what information is allowed under the law.

Social and professional networking websites may be useful to gain a better understanding of who the applicant is, but should not be relied upon to make a sound hiring decision.

In order to avoid privacy violation and discrimination claims, experts recommend getting the assistance of a professional and experienced employment screening firm.