You’ve got more than 300 friends on Facebook but what do you do when you get a friend request from your boss or coworker? 
Lately, companies everywhere are using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, but more and more employees are discovering that their management is using social networking tools for purposes other than socializing. For this reason, many employees feel awkward and defensive when approached about opening up their networks to their work colleagues.
“I find it very invasive when professional contacts with whom I am not socially connected contacts me through a social networking platform. If it were ten years ago and you called my home phone for personal reasons, it would be considered inappropriate. Why is this different?” says Chris Linn, vice-president of business development at InsideVenture.
Human resources department frequently research job candidates’ background and existing employees through their Facebook profiles. Inappropriate comments and images surfaced on Facebook have shown quite a few employees the exit door. Even more are denied job opportunities. So given the circumstances regarding the regularity of social media usage in workplace, many workers and management are at crossroads about what is appropriate and what isn’t.
To friend or not to friend, that is the question
Jim Gould, president at I Support, agrees to the benefits of Facebook interaction with colleagues. “It would probably help me to improve my business to see the uncensored and probably incidental comments of my colleagues, but I cannot see any advantage to them including me in their private conversations,” he says.
LinkedIn professionals were asked where they stood on friending workplace colleagues and more than 90 percent of respondents said that adding bosses to Facebook is a no-no. Adding coworkers were deemed more acceptable: More than 60 percent said they have or expected to add coworkers to their network. Still most agreed that the best solution was to keep the two worlds separate.
“I firmly believe that LinkedIn is for professional use and Facebook is for personal use,” says Jason Chu, executive recruiter at Shulman Fleming and Partners. “My personal life, as tame as it is, is still my person life. It has no relevance in my work environment.”
If you must accept, here’s an idea
Many employees who want to maintain a level of privacy from their employers find it hard to deny a friend request from a supervisor. After all, how can you say to a boss, "no, I don't want to be your friend." Doing so could also raise serious questions about your loyalty and create tension in your working relationship. To avoid getting tangled in the office politics of social networking, some employees will even go so far as to create a second Facebook profile just for work relationships so as to not appear rude to colleagues and supervisors.
“Create two different profiles: One you share with your closest friends and one you share with everyone else. Facebook allows you to manipulate your settings so people in the latter group only see what you want them to see,” advises Trace Cohen, chief marketing officer at Brandyourself.com.
But many also argue that keeping two profiles is easily searchable and that it just makes you look like you’re trying to hide something. Some even believe that refusing to accept a boss or coworker into your social network puts a shroud of suspicion on your character.
With the constantly evolving landscape of networking platforms, workplace ethics is as complicated as ever. It’s a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Friending the boss after all
Perhaps you’re the exception to the case— you have a wonderful relationship with your boss and coworkers and you’ve decided to include them into Facebook page. Are you being sensible or have you just committed job-sabotage?
“I am absolutely comfortable with adding supervisors and professional contacts as friends on Facebook,” says Scott Hale, Social Media Marketing Specialist. Hale keeps his profile an even mix “between professional and personal and I believe it represents my ability to balance my hobbies with my professional interests.”
Likewise, Erica D, an associate director at a nonprofit organization agrees. Because she is a shy person by nature, she admits that adding coworkers to her Facebook page has helped develop a camaraderie that she would typically find difficult to achieve in person.
“Having positive relations in the office is so important. I think [Facebook] has helped,” she says. Erica uses updates as a way to start a conversation with someone at work. “When I ask for information or assistance to do my job, they are more likely to be receptive or willing to help.” She also points out that while she has witnessed some indiscretions with others, she herself is careful to recognize that Facebook, like all the other networks, is a public forum. “Everything I post is something I wouldn't mind seeing posted on the bulletin board at work.”
Yes, there is an upside to having a boss and coworker in your social circle—it’s easier to build trust and loyalty within the confines of a Facebook page. For those that are judicious about sharing appropriate information, the benefit of having developed trust and friendship from a supervisor can be immeasurable.
The best advice in using any networking tool is to always be a bit guarded about what you share. Keep your Facebook page and other social networking platforms entertaining and as non-controversial as possible. While it’s easy to get carried away with posting pictures of yourself doing a wild strip tease at a friend’s party, it’s also wise to remember that a quick laugh can just as easily leave an unfavorable impression on those that are unfamiliar to you. Bottom line is you just never know who is watching.
© paul moore | dreamstime.com
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For more articles on work-related issues, please check out:
The Politics Series: The Politics of Facebook Friend Requests from Your Colleagues | The Politics of being a Woman on the Job: Why can't we all just get along? | The Politics of Being Young on the Job: Managing the Kid Boss
The Lists: Five Signs that Your Good Looks are Working Against You | Five Ways to Battle the Office Backstabber | Ten Signs that You Might be a Difficult Employee
The 101 Info Series: Bosses 101: What makes someone a bad boss? | Office romance 101: When is it a do and a don't?
Everything in between:Tips for managing the Millennial Generation | When You're Smarter than the Boss | Knowing When to Speak Up and When Not to |Equal Work, Unequal Pay: What to do if You're the Victim of Gender Discrimination
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Comments
Trace Cohen's suggestion makes a lot of sense. It is a natural extension of the fact that we speak and behave differently in our professional and private lives.
I think the emphasis should be on bosses/managers not to try and connect with their staff on Facebook.
LinkedIn is a professional platform and can be treated differently.
Private life should be kept outside the internet if its possible. And even then some controversies are unavoidable - not everyone is trained to think thats its ok to like one and not other football club and that can make everyones life complicated.
However, I am connected to people I know in person. And hopefully will be able to manage whatever differences we have, I am pretty sure I am ok and others are too, so its great common ground to start :) Naivete? Perhaps! Still feel young enough not to give up easily!
The article is spot on in addressing the distinction between social and professional networks that is for some reason still murky for many. Also worth noting is that although bringing contacts from your social network into your professional networking site is less problematic than the converse action, it should go without saying that posting updates that are out of place in the professional realm ("grabbing dinner with Charlie at...” etc.) to a professional networking site is unmannerly.
I agree that having my coworkers and supervisor as facebook friends really has contributed to our camaraderie. I do have two accounts for fb and twitter (not linkedin since that lends itself to more of a business application), one using my personal and the other using my business email. I also agree, since social networking is a public forum, discretion is highly recommended.
I agree with Tim. I think managers should be trained not to put their employees in this uncomfortable situation. As mentioned above some people are comfortable and have a positive experience while others feel conflicted and would rather keep work and personal life separate.
This problem can easily be solved if Facebook would let users create and assign groups (or categories) to their friends. For example, there can be 3 groups: family, friends, and coworkers. Each group can have its own privacy controls. The coworkers group can have limited access to material from friends & family groups. This way, you can accept invite fro your boss, while at the same time adjust privacy controls so your boss can’t access your family network content. Best of both worlds!
I have accepted few co-workers to be a part of my social network ... I work for a telecommunications company and I find that comments made on facebook filter back when there is a discussion that the company might feel is inappropriate. It is well precedented that unless something I say impairs my ability to perform my job ... or my employer's ability to do business ... that I can hold my employer liable for any disciplinary action as a result ... but who's to say it won't damage my reputation ... with or without disciplinary action.
Wow, it's Facebook!
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