Social networking is a key aspect of business these days, and Facebook is a critical driver of this. While you may have a Facebook Fan Page for your business, the line between personal and professional could have gotten very blurred as vendors and clients added you as Facebook friends. Before you agree to those, take a step back and ask yourself if this is a good thing.
For many people, Facebook is about friends and family. Yes, there can be an element of business in there (and there are appropriate resources for that), but if you wind up with too many business contacts on your Facebook profile, you’ll probably have to wind up censoring yourself for the sake of professionalism. Everybody gets involved in wacky fun at a wedding or vacation or a boy’s/girl’s night out…but how much of that do you want your business contacts to see? Similarly, you might use Facebook to express how you feel about social or political news, and if a client disagrees with your point of view, you’ve inadvertently driven a wedge between that connection.
The sensible alternative is this: if a business contact that you don’t personally know as a friends wants to be your Facebook friend, simply add them to your LinkedIn account. After all, LinkedIn was built for exactly that purpose, and it keeps that level of separation between personal and professional.
With technology blurring the line these days, it’s easy to let your professional life overrun your personal time. Be sure to maintain distinct worlds between the two — your friends and family will thank you for it!
The views published here are the opinions of the writer and are not a substitute for legal counsel.
Israel Gonzalez
Real Estate Broker-Hollister CA
831-636-8858
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