Has the arrival of social media challenged the traditional separation between personal and work lives? What should guide the decision to allow business contacts to connect through Facebook and other social media tools that also reach friends and family? How are you personally managing the blurred lines between personal and professional lives?
Mixing the professional and personal is easy in today’s social media landscape. But just because it is easy, does not mean it should be done. Obviously social media has challenged the traditional separation between personal and work lives. However, it is up to individuals to decide how much of that self they wish to put out there for public consumption.
There are number of common sense guidelines one can employ when using social media sites to connect and share. Good questions to ask when posting anything to personal or professional social media sites are: If this post were to appear on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow, would I be proud to have it attributed to me? Could this be considered offensive to anyone I am connected to? Does this post go against the image I wish to maintain both professionally and personally? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, it would be wise to reevaluate the reasoning for posting it in the first place.
Furthermore, why is it that even though one is passionate about work and life the two should intersect at all? There are boundaries for a reason. No one outside of immediate family (and even that could be debated) wants to know everything about you from your political/religious leanings to your 100 pet peeves. There is a time and place for everything and social media makes easy to forget what belongs where and why.
If you have “friended” your boss on Facebook, inevitably there will come a point in time when you are going to be job hunting or looking to move on to a different company. Why expose yourself and your boss or coworkers to this hopelessly awkward situation? Or if your boss “friends” you on Facebook, do you really want him/her to see the pictures from the pool party last weekend? Do you want co-workers or potential employers to be privy to the occasional vent? LinkedIn is more appropriate and geared toward maintaining the professional career and Facebook is meant for the more personal aspects of life. Connections may exist and cross-over between the two accounts, but how much sharing and with whom is ultimately up to the individual user to decide. Check your privacy settings frequently. Be aware of your company’s social media policy (they do have one, right?) and ensure your profiles adhere to their codes of conduct.
Do keep in mind there is no reason why one *must* accept every invitation to connect via Facebook or LinkedIn. Accept the ones that apply to that specific profile you are comfortable with and decline the ones you wish to keep out of your personal or professional business. If probed about why you did not accept the request, one can diplomatically state, “I prefer to use <insert social media site here> for my professional/personal contacts. Let’s try to connect on <other social media site> instead.” Simple, truthful and it creates boundaries.
As an employee, it can be awkward to blur the lines of the professional and personal. Recall how George Costanza from Seinfeld once said, “Worlds cannot collide!” Business is business and always will be. Take whatever steps necessary to ensure that your connections view you with respect and have no qualms about recommending your skills and abilities (either professional or personal) to their connections and networks. After all, that is what social media is about – your personal net promoter score. Be the best brand you can be.
What do you do to protect your personal brand? How do you see personal and professional merging in social media? Leave a comment below!
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