How To Befriend The Boss On Facebook
This is a post I’ve been wanting to write for a while, and as soon as I saw this video, I was inspired.
To set a little context, it was just about a year ago when we gathered as usual for our weekly staff meeting. As we took our seats my boss came in and proclaimed, “I joined Facebook over the weekend, and I think the rest of you should do the same – oh, and please friend me.”
A hush fell over the room – and then the room divided. Slowly a look of terror fell upon the faces of our younger staff members. They were trying to figure out the quickest route back to their desks so they could “untag” the questionable pics from last weekend’s birthday bash. And, the rest of us were dumbfounded: “Facebook? isn’t that just for college students?”
Since that time, I’ve had a good laugh with my boss about this – but the fact is, that line that used to separate our public lives from our private lives has become little blurrier with the growing use of social media – especially in the workplace.
But there’s no denying it, social media is now a permanent part of the workplace – and with that comes new lessons in social media etiquette. In fact, I wasn’t at all surprised to find an entire book out there by Mari Smith appropriately entitled, “Facebook for Professionals.” While I haven’t read the book, her blog covers questions from accepting requests from people you don’t know, to proper Facebook email etiquette.
So, how much is too much, and where do you draw the line between painting an authentic picture of yourself that’s believable to your friends and acceptable to your boss? Earlier this summer I was speaking to a room full of nonprofit leaders and the conversation made its way to social media and the way it is changing the culture of traditional institutions and nonprofits.
One woman began to explain how her organization was using Facebook to organize their volunteers, but she said there were certain things coming up on people’s profiles that she didn’t feel comfortable knowing about. So, she made the decision to not “friend” any of her subordinates or the younger volunteers in her organization.
Now, I don’t fall into the camp that says you should create two separate profiles – one for your professional persona and one for your friends. But I do think it’s important for employers and employees to know the boundaries – and personally, I think the two can coexist. After all, if institutions are to grow and change and keep up with the times, social networking is a huge part of this transformation. As you can see in the video above, privacy settings are making it easier to be a little more strategic and selective with what’s posted publicly, but it’s still important to be discreet.
For those of you with a presence on Facebook or another social networking site, what are your experiences with this balancing act? Is there value to meshing your private and professional lives online? Any lessons learned the hard way?