Social trends are building each year, particularly around the most common platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr.

In its first quarter 2015 earnings announcement in April, Facebook revealed that it now has more than 1.44 billion monthly active users (up 13 percent year-over-year). Of those, 1.25 billion were mobile users, an increase of 24 percent year over year.

With more than 350 million active users to date on LinkedIn, 300 million on Instagram, 288 million monthly active users on Twitter, 233 million active blog users on Tumblr, and 72.8 million users on Pinterest, it’s quite obvious the social scene is busier than ever before.

In a recent Forbes articles, titled What Your Facebook Use Reveals About Your Personality And Your Self-Esteem, it highlighted 7 key findings that our online interactions reveal about us. In the article, it states “Although we may think we’re masking our insecurities or portraying ourselves in the most favorable light, our behavior on social media reveals more than we might think. It’s not just what we post on Facebook that reveals information about our personalities – it’s also what we don’t post that can be quite telling. It’s likely that our personality profiles will continue to play a major role in how advertisers market to us and how companies will choose to hire people in the future.”

Between the photos you share, words you post, likes or comments you get, who you associate with or how much of each social platform you take advantage of using, what goes online, stays online. Certain social networks update their privacy settings so you may or may not know how private or public you’re really sharing with the world. Be careful and use common sense about the things you choose to share and how engage on any site.

Employers’ quickly understand the benefits of doing a quick search on you if you consider applying for a position with them. They look for validation that you are who you say you are, how you perceive yourself socially, any red flags or inappropriate behavior, photos, and how often and how you use your profile in the social world.

Activity on Twitter is a chance for you to show your enthusiasm for a specific industry or segment; your ability to stay informed with trends and hot topics. It’s not just about writing content to contribute to conversations; you can use social media to share published stories and ask questions about them and generate a healthy online debate.

Aside from the specifics mentioned, employers look for passion beyond any other skill you have acquired. They want to see that your heart is truly embedded in the industry and you can prove this through your strong online engagement.

Social Recruiting Stats:

Almost 47% of recruiters do check social networking sites to screen the prospective employees as soon as they receive a job application

Around 69% have rejected candidature on the basis of something they saw in the Social Media

About 13% of candidates were rejected because they’d lied about their qualifications

And 11% were rejected because of posting inappropriate comments, photos, or posting negative comments about a previous employer and demonstrating poor communication skills

To summarize, the key takeaway from this is to take a moment to think before you comment, tag, share, like, or whatever it may be that you do while on your social sites. If you are actively seeking a new position, consider what your potential employer may care to see, or not see, and what will create a positive impression about you.