• One in seven social media users has chosen an employer with the help of Facebook
• At the same time, particularly high level of fake news and hostility on the platform

A quarter of social media users (25 percent) have already used Facebook to find out about a company as an employer. Around one in seven respondents (14 percent) have also made a concrete decision in favor of an employer based on information from the network. This puts Facebook in the lead across all media. At the same time, the network is the leader when it comes to fake news, bullying, hatred and hate speech. These are the key findings of the representative study “Social Media Atlas 2025”, which is published annually by the communications agency PER Agency, the Institute for Management and Economic Research and the market research institute Toluna.

In addition to Facebook, the professional networks LinkedIn and Xing also play an important role in the search for an employer. In each case, 22 percent looked for information there. This is followed by reputable online news (21%), the sales-boosting video channel YouTube and traditional newspapers/magazines (19% each). When it comes to deciding on a specific employer, LinkedIn and YouTube are just behind Facebook with 13% each. Twelve percent relied on information from newspapers, magazines and Xing.

Xing and LinkedIn lead in trust, Facebook in fake news

However, when it comes to trust in information from companies or other commercial providers, Facebook is at the bottom of the list of platforms. 51 percent of users have little or very little trust in the content shared there. However, TikTok, Snapchat, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram do not fare much better. The professional networks Xing and LinkedIn achieved the best scores. Two out of three users there have high or very high trust in commercial information.

Facebook is also ahead when it comes to contact with fake news. 56% of social media users come into contact with fake news or propaganda there, followed by TikTok (53%) and Instagram (44%). The figures for LinkedIn and Xing are only 13% and 12% respectively.

One in four people experience bullying on Facebook, one in ten become victims themselves

Bullying is also common on Facebook. A quarter of users have already observed targeted attacks against a person. This puts the social network on a par with the microblogging service X. Only the short video platform TikTok has an even worse score (27%).

In the “hate and hate speech” category, Facebook even achieved the highest score with 30 percent. At eleven percent, users there are also the most frequent victims of hostility themselves. The figures for Xing and LinkedIn are just three and two percent respectively. The most frequent victims of hostility are the age groups 16 to 19 years (55%), 20 to 29 years (64%) and 30 to 39 years (48%).

Despite these shortcomings, 30 to 59-year-olds in particular are very active on Facebook. Around 60 percent regularly read posts, almost 40 percent like and around 30 percent comment. “These activity rates are higher than on other important platforms such as YouTube, Instagram or Snapchat,” explains Dr. Roland Heintze, Managing Partner of PER Agency and social media expert. “With increasing experience, media literacy usually grows too.”

However, Facebook’s user numbers are shrinking significantly among young people up to the age of 29. The network is therefore likely to lose relevance in the long term. “For the time being, however, HR managers in companies in particular should continue to monitor and use it intensively if they are interested in talent and experienced employees,” advises Heintze.