Another Reason to Keep Your Social Media Profile Squeaky Clean

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - If you are job hunting and are the subject of some unflattering photos or information out there on the Internet, the sour economy may not be your worst enemy.

The Federal Trade Commission has dropped its investigation of a year-old start-up company that makes its living by scouring social media and Internet sites for dirt on employees and job applicants, reported PC Magazine .

Social Intelligence Corp., based in Santa Barbara, Calif., takes background checks to another level. They expand on the search that human resource departments perform. The company tracks social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, and individual blogs, reported Forbes.com .

"You cannot believe the things that we see. The amount of references to drugs and alcohol and the amount of provocative photos and the things that people say is jaw dropping," Max Drucker, chief executive of Social Intelligence Corp. , told Forbes.com in September. "People that we see that are applying for jobs that have this kind of really incriminating information out there."

The fact that the federal government has suspended its investigation of Social intelligence Corp. can be seen as a sign of the times. The Daily Mail reported that the green light given to the company means Social Intelligence Corp. complies with the Fair Credit Reporting Act – despite keeping results of its searches on file for seven years.

But you used an online pseudonym, you say? That won't help. The company uses special software to link those nicknames with real, offline names known to employers, reported The Daily Mail.

Forbes.com reported that in one case, a job applicant was labeled racist because he once joined a Facebook group called, "I shouldn't have to press one for English. We are in the United States. Learn the language."