Career News 24/7: The Cynical Girl: Connecting with Bosses on Facebook

Friday, February 24, 2012

The Cynical Girl: Connecting with Bosses on Facebook

Connecting with Bosses on Facebook

Posted: 23 Feb 2012 03:45 AM PST

I still get a ton of questions about bosses, coworkers and Facebook.

Let me quickly summarize my recommendations.

You don’t have to be friends with anyone on Facebook.
You don’t have to explain the reasons why you connect with certain people and why you don’t.
If your boss gets pushy, it’s best to save face. Lie.
You can say, “I didn’t get your invitation. I’m sorry. I must have missed it.”
If your boss or coworkers ask again, you can continue to lie.
Eventually these people will get the hint.
If not, continue to lie.

Emily Post reminds us that good manners are preserving the other person’s dignity.

Well, as much dignity as someone who repeatedly asks you about Facebook can have…

One quick note: you can just leave the invitation untouched in your Facebook inbox. If you don’t accept it or reject the notice, your boss and colleagues can’t continually request to (re)connect.

Or you can block them, full stop, so they can’t see you.

They will never know.

Or we can all just grow the hell up.