Tiptoeing Around Your Social Media Content - Having Your Boss on Facebook

Having your boss and/or colleagues on social media is a tricky one. When that friend request or follower notification pops up on your phone it brings the panic of thinking back to your previous posts, and what picture they'll paint of you to your boss or workmates. So does having these social media links to these people affect what and how you post?

First comes Facebook: for many, a place for portraying a more picture-perfect image of yourself onto the internet. The occasional photo post, or share of an interesting or funny Buzzfeed video is as far as it goes. Family members are also likely to be your friend, so the etiquette and tiptoeing is likely to already set in stone, like with the polite comment in response to your Uncle posting an old family photo they've dug out and, for some bizarre reason, decided to post and tag you in. Facebook is mostly safe-ground if you're cautious.

However there's always going to be a time when a Facebook post pops up which could suggest a small jibe to the work-place hierarchy, a perfect joke to be shared among you and your peers. You'll find yourself pausing before you publicly tag your work-bestie in it, remembering you have your Manager as a friend, and perhaps send it privately in Messenger instead. Problem solved.

Other social media apps such as Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat are possibly where you're a bit more free to have that occasional work-related rant or share some funny photos of you and your friends. Some tend to choose the safety of Snapchat and the wonders of a temporary post, never to be seen again after once opened or expired after 24 hours. Others go for privatizing accounts to choose who sees your tweets and photos, the ultimate control of what you're sharing and who with. Benefits of these include no trace of those less-classy selfies from the night before being available for your boss or potential employer to discover and frown at.

However it's worth checking your privacy settings on these accounts.You aren't aware of how they're set until you receive a Snap from a co-worker you hadn't added as a friend, and you're sat wondering a) how they found you and b) what of your content they can see. That slightly surprising and out-of-the-blue selfie with the bunny-filter applied brings the worry of appearing bad online to people you work for, so you find yourself sugar-coating some or all of your content.

Failure in being careful in what you post can have consequences. In 2008, as reported by the Independent and various other news outlets, Virgin Atlantic fired 13 flight attendants after they posted on Facebook about passengers being 'chavs' and the planes supposedly having health and safety issues, with cockroaches found on board. The company terminated their employment for inappropriate behavior and breaking staff policy.

Having your boss on Facebook is something that will (or at least, if you don't want to end up like those Virgin Atlantic flight attendants, should) change how you post, share and ultimately portray yourself on social media. Not having your boss on social media is an option, but if that friend request comes through there's the dilemma of offending if you decline, and obviously you want to keep in their good books so you feel obliged to accept.

Subsequently,  it's definitely worth thinking twice about what you post in regards to your job, because with the on-going rise of social media, it could cost you it.

Laura Sewell

An aspiring journalist, Laura is our Content Writer intern.  Pop-punk gig-goer and drag queen enthusiast, Laura is working her way into the industry, with an English A -Level and love of writing about anything and everything in tow. Find her daily musings on twitter @Songbird_Lauras

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