You just got a job as a staff therapist at your local hospital and you’ve barely even had time to meet all of your fellow staff members, let alone learn much at all about them. But now you’ve logged onto Facebook and see you have friend requests from three of them – and one of those is your department manager! Do you accept or not?
Turns out that’s a tricky question. According to a study titled “OMG My Boss Just Friended Me” from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton school, many people liken being friended by their boss to being friended by their parents. Clearly those were younger people in the study, but older workers with teenagers or young adult children who have balked at being “friends” with them know where they’re coming from.
The results also show that workers are more accepting of female bosses who friend them than male bosses, particularly when those female bosses reveal more about themselves online. Workers are far less excited about accepting friend requests from male bosses who reveal lots of personal information on Facebook.
So what should you do if you’re friended by your boss or even co-workers who you feel you don’t really know? Most people would agree that totally ignoring these friend requests is akin to snubbing the person in question, and that certainly wouldn’t be good for your career. But there are some steps you can take to ensure you aren’t sharing information with them that you would rather not share –
- If you really do want to limit your Facebook account to close friends and family, email your boss and/or coworkers and suggest they connect with you on LinkedIn instead. That’s the social networking site specifically made to establish professional relationships.
- If your colleagues are AARC members, send them contact requests via AARConnect. That’s a great way to solidify the bond that already exists between you and them through your shared membership in your professional organization.
- If you don’t mind having some work-related Facebook friends but are still worried about your boss learning too much about your personal life – for example, you’re a young mom who posts stuff about her kids all the time and you’re afraid that’s going to make it look like you’re ripe for the “Mommy Track” – then set up some filters and groups on Facebook to funnel those posts only to personal friends and family members.
- Of course, some of your posts will still get through, despite the filters, so it’s best not to post anything you really and truly would not want your boss to see. Those pictures from last night’s pub crawl can be shared via text or email with the folks who really need to see them!
