Should You Friend Your Boss On Facebook?

“Do I friend my boss on Facebook or not?” – that is the question that many working people ask themselves today. You may drink coffee together in the mornings, go to lunch, exchange presents on birthday and ask each other for advice, but you still don’t hurry to send a friend request on Facebook.

Regardless of how many professional opportunities social networks give us, people still use them mainly for exchanging personal information and keeping in touch with friends and family. The fact that you have good relationships with your boss doesn’t necessarily mean that you should become close friends. Agree that you wouldn’t want your boss to see the pictures of some crazy party from last weekend or comment on you family pictures.
So, what makes us to or stops us from friending our bosses?

4 reasons to friend your boss on Facebook

1. You get to know your boss better.

On your boss’s profile, you can find out about his or her preferences, hobbies, families, favorite food, sport, etc. You’ll have a deeper understanding of this person. Such information can help you find some common interests and get along with your boss more.

2. Career development.

Let’s be honest: good relationships with bosses can and often do help people get promoted. Social networks can help you become closer with your boss and succeed in your job.

3. Prove that you are a true professional and a really good person.

Post the information about your career achievements, new projects and goals, your volunteer work, the courses you are taking, etc. Let your boss and colleagues know that you are an active person and indispensible employee.

4. You know what not to talk about.

You can see what your boss likes and what disapproves by reading his or her comments and seeing what they liked or shared. You can use that not to talk about some things your boss doesn’t like and thus avoid any harmful arguments.

6 reasons not to friend your bosses online

1. Your image in their eyes can change not in a good way.

You may think “so what?”. They can think whatever they want. However, you need to remember about your social status and about the role of your bosses in your career. Your pictures, shares, posts, etc. can tell a lot about your interests which may be not to your boss’s liking. Who knows, maybe your boss hates selfies and you cannot live a day without them. It can actually affect your boss’s opinion of you.

2. They can check if you visit your profiles during work.

Yeah, social networks are real traitors. You can see when a person was online. That is not very comfortable for you if you like to check your profiles during the day.

3. They will like your posts and comment on them.

You can survive some likes from your bosses, right? Comments may be different, though, starting from pleasant compliments and finishing with inappropriate remarks. Imagine you go out and make a fun picture with a bottle of beer in your hand. And your boss writes something like “Jane, I thought you didn’t tolerate alcohol” or “Girls, don’t forget that it is work tomorrow”.

4. You can write only good things about your job.

If before you could freely criticize your company’s new project or write an ironic joke about your last team-building, now you can only admire the endless advantages of your work.

5. Your bosses will know what they shouldn’t know.

It can be anything: your date, your night out with friends, your political views or the video of you singing at a karaoke bar. The list can be endless here. Some of those things are too private to share them with your boss.

6. You cannot control your friends.

Even if your Facebook profile looks perfect and you don’t post anything compromising, your friends can tag you on some embarrassing photo from the party last night. You cannot do anything about it.

If you don’t want to be friends with your boss on social networks, it is your decision, but if you get a friend request from them, you need to be careful and try not to hurt their feelings. If you are brave enough, you can talk to your boss about that and suggest friendship on LinkedIn, for example, which is more appropriate for such kind of relationships.
Anyway, this decision it totally up to you. If you don’t post anything compromising on Facebook and you see your boss as a friend, then why not? If you like to share every part of your life with your online friends, you should better refuse this idea. Hopefully, this post helps you make up your mind. Good luck!