Navigating Social Media Connections in the Workplace

3 minute read

In an age where everything is at our fingertips on the internet, it’s crucial to understand that how you portray yourself online directly reflects your personal and/or professional brand and how others perceive you. Your social media profiles serve as windows into your life, so as you start creating a professional reputation for yourself, you need to think carefully about your social media presence online: who can see it, what you are posting, and what kind of message you are sending to the world. In the same way that Navigating Workplace Friendships require careful consideration, who you let follow your accounts and the content you share demand some thought as well. Below are my personal key rules when it comes to my work life and my personal social media presence. I encourage you to create your own!  

1. Keep your social media accounts private
   
   Maintaining private accounts gives you full control over who can view your content. By limiting access to only approved individuals, you take control over who sees your content. While everything on my personal social media is, I believe, very appropriate and trivial, I never want anything I post online to be taken out of context or used to frame an opinion of me at work that I do not intend. Simply put, my personal life is nobody's business but mine. Therefore, I keep my profiles private so I can maintain control over my own narrative. 
   

2. Decide how to handle follow requests from colleagues
   
   Consider whether you want to maintain a clear separation between your personal and professional life online. Will you decline all work-related friend requests? WiIl you accept requests from peers but not direct reports or managers? Establish consistent guidelines for managing your social media following and stick to them to avoid selective acceptance. The last thing you want to do is to be selective with work colleagues over who you accept and who you don’t - this could lead to some very awkward conversations. Pick a philosophy that you would feel comfortable explaining to anyone who asks and stick to it.
   

3. Don’t follow your work colleagues unless they follow you first
   
   Regardless of your approach to managing requests, I personally do not follow colleagues unless they initiate the connection. This is particularly crucial for those in HR or leadership roles (even those aspiring to be a leader one day!). Imagine if your boss sent you a friend request on Instagram - that might feel pretty uncomfortable, depending on your relationship, to know how to handle that situation. Will they expect you to accept? If you decline, will that create an issue at work? Lead by example here and allow others to take the first step in order to respect their autonomy and avoid any potential discomfort or pressure. 
   
   Personally, I keep all my accounts private and welcome colleagues to follow me if they want to, and I will always send a follow request to a colleague who has requested to follow me. Because of this, I am careful with my content and I ensure everything I post is something that I am comfortable with my professional network seeing and/or talking to me about. Before allowing colleagues to follow you, consider the type of social media presence you want to maintain and who constitutes an appropriate audience. 

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