Have you ever wondered how a blogger becomes popular through social media?  It all starts with branding yourself.  Suzanne Lucas, also known as the Evil HR Lady, has become one of the most popular Human Resources bloggers on the web.  Suzanne spent many years in corporate Human Resources.  Her first posts in her blog, Evil HR Lady, date back to August of 2006.  She also founded the Carnival of HR which is a collection of HR blogs. 

         The success of her blogging comes from her HR knowledge, self branding and interactive site.  The knowledge that she has of HR shines through her blogs and when she answers people’s questions.  Her followers trust what she is saying because of her experience and expertise. 

         Suzanne brands herself through her social media sites.  On her twitter, the majority of her tweets are about HR.  She responds to followers, as well.  Responding to followers is a good technique for twitter users because it shows that you pay attention to people who tweet at you.  She provides information not only for HR specialists but also for job seekers about how to improve resumes and other hot topics.  Suzanne can also be found on LinkedIn and Facebook.  Due to her successful branding on social media sites, she has been able to gain more followers for her blog.

        Suzanne's blog site is interactive for readers.  There is a space to write comments, a link to email her directly and a reader can subscribe to the blog as well!  There are links to share the blog post to major social media sites.  Suzanne provides HR links on the right side of the blog.  Also, in some of her actual blogs she posts a “You may also like” with links to related articles.  The interactive blog makes a great tool for readers. 

      Suzanne Lucas is a great example of a Human Resources specialist becoming famous through blogging and social media.  With the right knowledge, branding and use of blogging sites, Suzanne has become famous in the HR World!  

You can find Suzanne's blog at www.evilhrlady.org and on twitter @RealEvilHRLady
 
        For this first blog, I had a tough time deciding what aspect of Human Resources and social media I would like to tackle.  When I started to dig into a little bit of literature about the two topics it became an easy decision.  Should HR departments be searching for potential candidates on Google and social media sites?

            It has become a hot topic in recent months due to incidents where employers were asking for Facebook passwords.  There have even been two states, Illinois and California, that have made it illegal for employers to ask for Facebook passwords: http://www.webpronews.com/new-laws-banning-employers-from-asking-for-facebook-passwords-go-into-effect-2013-01.    It also becomes a little fuzzy because social media is a great way to advertise job openings or in other words do social recruiting.  This will continue to be a debated topic in the coming years, especially when it comes to the HR departments and the policies that they create.  

            HR departments should use Google and social media to a minimum when an applicant is going through the interview process.  There are a couple of times that it would be relevant.  If you are hiring for a position like PR or Marketing, it is a great tool to find YouTube videos of the applicant on previous work they have done.  Some applicants may even include these links in their information.

            HR departments should not use Google and social media sites for finding any reason to not hire a person.  This is a lazy way of trying to weed out applicants.  The HR specialist should use the application, employees history and references to see if they would be a good fit.  Social media is a personal site for someone to be able to post pictures and connect with family and friends far away.  Where should employers draw the line?  Besides, what will the internet provide?  Skewed information?  Misconception of a situation?  It could lead to letting a potentially great employee get away.

            What do you all think about using Google and social media as a way to look into applicants?  Feel free to comment with your opinions!