Facebook being used more and more in the professional world

After recently starting at a different job, you are looking through Facebook and see a friend request from your new boss. Should you accept the request or pretend you didn't see it?

If you don't have anything on your Facebook that you wouldn't want your boss to see, then "friending" him or her should not be a problem, says Rhett Hendrickson of Hendrickson Business Advisors in Cape Girardeau.

Hillarie Mueller, online content strategist for rustmedia, says she believes the topic of social media and work operates on a case-by-case basis.

"I don't think there's a concrete rule," she says, and it may depend on the organization or work environment. If you have a good relationship with your boss and nothing to hide, why not accept that token of friendship?

And the door swings both ways.

Bosses should not have anything on their Facebook they wouldn't want their staff to see, Hendrickson says.

When it comes to co-workers, Hendrickson says he allows his employees to initiate a Facebook friend request with him. He never initiates a friend request with his employees. Why? "It allows them to decide whether or not they want me to see that part of their life," he says. "If they initiate the friend request, I always accept."

Hendrickson follows this same rule of thumb regarding his clients. If the client is part of a company that has a professional business Facebook page, Hendrickson says he immediately "likes" the page to see what the business' social media presence is, but he would not initiate a friend request with a client.

The Facebook question not only pops up after a job is in hand -- it can play a big role in the hiring process, as well.

"I firmly believe when you apply for a job, you will be Internet-stalked by your prospective employer," Hendrickson says.

He suggests that people expect the social media checkout for potential employees to avoid unpleasant surprises or embarrassing moments.

Employers should be able to look at a potential employee's social media presence, Mueller said, because it can say a lot about who a person is and their lifestyle.

"Social media is totally up for grabs when hiring people," she says, because it can serve in helping judge whether a person will be a good employee.

Her advice: "If you are going to put your Facebook link, Instagram handle and Twitter handle [on your resume], it better be clean."

The idea of having two separate Facebook accounts -- one for your personal life and one for your professional life -- may not prevent the questioning of a person's character, sources say.

"To me, that would be even more suspicious ... what are they trying to hide?" Mueller says.

Having two separate online personalities is worse than not having an online presence at all, Hendrickson says.

He recommends people do not have personal- and professional-self Facebook profiles. "It can indicate they have something to hide from some people," Hendrickson says.

If something could be seen as embarrassing, then it shouldn't be on Facebook, he says. Then again, people shouldn't pretend to be "all business" when their friends know they aren't being true to themselves.

"I believe that people can spot a phony. And that can only hurt your professional image," Hendrickson says.

The bottom line of the Facebook question is that nothing is private, says Mueller. Regardless of who you are friends with on Facebook, or what you chose to post or not post -- if an employer, or someone else, wants to know something about you, they're going to find out.

"The end of it all is nothing's private," she says.

Facebook is easy to use, and "there's a lot riding on it" in today's work industry, Hendrickson says.

"In all things, be honest," he says. "And if you don't want people to see the honest you, then either change you or stay off of social media."