Do you accept social media requests from coworkers or managers? A manager sent me a friend request on both Instagram and Facebook. I ignored them. And then she asked me about it. What would you say?

Tell them you restict it to extended family. And you are happy to connect on LinkedIn.

Connecting with any current coworkers is always a bad idea, but especially your manager, unless you post nothing but kitten videos.

You can tell her that you have a policy of not "friending" anyone you currently work with. I've had to do that and it was accepted just fine.

Only on LinkedIn. And sometimes not even until one of us has moved to a different job.

Just tell them truthfully I prefer not to socialize with work place employees

I am very careful about what I post on social media. I never post anything that could be considered political, too personal or controversial. I keep my private life extremely private. I have no issues adding people to my profile for that reason. However, if I were using social media to discuss political opinion, overtly personal things or things that are controversial, I would never add anyone except family and really close friends. Besides, anything you put out on line is available for anyone to see. I keep that in mind with everything I post. If I don't want someone to see it, I don't post it. I personally think that everyone should be conscious of what they are posting. Be a better person. If you have to hide from someone on social media, look carefully at what you post.

I don't think it is a good idea unless you 100% trust the co-worker. But definitely not going to be friends on any social platform with managers, even LinkedIn.

No, connecting will eventually backfire. If we’re talking managers to production or non exempt you could be accused of spying. with an nlrb charge.

Already mentioned, you cannot accept because your social media contacts are limited to close family and friends. I would add that it is not just your but THEIR privacy that requires you to say so.

I did see someone else mention a good idea; if this becomes a sticking point, create a second set of social media accounts just for your manager (which is not so easy to accomplish with Facebook).

Never connect with the people you work with on social media except LinkdIn. If you have a falling out or you lose respect for someone it affects your job. Do you want to lose it if hurt feelings makes someone petty? What if you learn something that makes you so uncomfortable that you feel uncomfortable working with them? It’s personal and has zero bearing on what they do at work so if you didn’t know what you do then there isn’t any problem working together. But more importantly, people you work with aren’t your friends, they’re people you’re friendly with. This obsession with posting everything, everywhere, is just a disaster waiting to happen when you work together. Social media has eradicated the social niceties and fosters the illusion that you’re really tight with people you really don’t know all that much about; we have to post stuff so we control the narrative of what life is like. And people have lost the filter that prevents us from saying things we shouldn’t because we don’t get the visual cues that we get in person and we’ve gotten to be hypercritical jerks behind our screens!

From my perspective as an employer, you’re lucky that you were just warned! If I’ve overlooked something as serious as a criminal record, why is it your business to share? You were absolutely acting with bad intentions because would you appreciate someone telling people that you had a criminal record? You weren’t thoughtless or sharing a spicy secret, or “spilling the tea,” or anything benign; you were deliberately cruel and looking for the popcorn to watch the show! I’d like to believe that you weren’t trying to get her fired and that it’s just the same thing we’re seeing on social media with people piling on just to stir $h!t up, but I don’t believe that you regret doing it, just that you didn’t get your entertainment.

At the very least you owe her an apology without an audience! I’d suggest taking her to lunch and ask if she’s comfortable telling you what she was going through that created her record and do not press on taking her to lunch, no apology gift or card, just act like an adult!

No. If I did, I've have a separate one for work.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

I manage people, I’m friends with my boss, but I don’t accept or friend everyone. I’m also pretty transparent so I’m not posting anything that I wouldn’t say in a convo with said people.

Don't do it. That's not part of work/life balance.

No , they be messy

No way lol maintaining a healthy work-life balance is my priority at this stage in my career. However I am always available on Slack (or official business channels) if you ever need support :) lol

Never with upper management. Yes to fellow managers/asst managers & maintenance, especially after working together. A lot of us are friends after work or after some have left the company. When you click with people, you click. Or it maybe trauma bonding.

I would say that I keep my professional life separate from my personal life to maintain the work life balance and improve work productivity. Im at my job to perform NOT worry about other peoples social life or lack thereof and definitely don’t need others prying into mine.

In general, I have a personal policy to NOT connect with current co-workers on social media. Also, the only social media I am on is LinkedIn, which is for professional connections. And I still refuse such connections. I am just uncomfortable with that extra connection. The don't even have my personal email addresses.

I actually block anyone I work with I actively search for them and block them mixing social media and work is never a good idea. I would urge others to do this 'purge' then you don't get friend requests

In this instance just explain you don't mix personal and professional contacts

No. I do not want anyone knowing what I do in my off time. If I did, I would tell them myself. No stalkers.

I'm totally agreement with not accepting friend requests from co workers. I do homecare and also do not accept from them. There are boundaries to maintain

My only social media is LinkedIn and Tiktok. LinkedIn I will definitely accept those requests, but not Tiktok. I keep that private and block anyone I know. Coworkers are not your friends.