Fresh out of undergrad, I was naive. I thought it’d be a good idea to add my coworkers as friends on Facebook. I felt like it gave me a chance to see them outside of the 9-to-5 and vice versa. Maybe, I initially thought, they could see the other side of me that I don’t display in the workplace. So eventually, I befriended some of my fellow workmates and even a few superiors. Because there was nothing wrong with that, right? Wrong. Let’s go back a a few years to my defining moment:
“So Ashleigh, are you okay?”
All six members of the Marketing department were arriving to the conference room, ready to begin our monthly meeting when my boss publicly inquired about my emotional well-being.
“Yea, I’m fine,” I responded, not sure where the question came from. My demeanor was pleasant, I put effort into my attire, and I arrived to the meeting on time. Nothing about me appeared to be “off.”
“Okay. I saw that your relationship status on Facebook changed so I was just making sure.”
Girl, what? Yes, during this very public work meeting, my boss put my business on Front Street. But that’s what I get.
I never made a genuine connection with my boss. Our conversations were always limited to work-related topics and frankly, awkward whenever we attempted to go outside those boundaries. My mistake was extending the invitation to be a part of my personal life, aka Facebook, to her. We weren’t friends; heck, we were barely acquaintances. I should’ve known better.
That was many years ago and I have actually formed a few genuine relationships in the workplace. I’ve added a one or two on Facebook too, but I am definitely more selective than I was before. I’ve always been told that you separate your work from your play. I now I know why.
Have you added your coworkers as friends on any of your social accounts? How’d that turn out?
Credits: Matthew Fultz