Center for Working Well Spring Speaker Series

Personal & Professional Boundaries: The role of Online Social Relationships

The intersection of personal and professional relationships has become increasingly complex with the advent of online social networks, leading to blurred boundaries and new challenges. In this talk, I examine how employees navigate "friend" requests from work acquaintances in these virtual spaces and the implications of their decisions. I discuss insights from several empirical studies, including real-world workplace interactions and controlled experiments. These findings highlight the nuanced interplay between self-disclosure, professional hierarchy, and gender dynamics, as well as the significant implications of connection decisions for future workplace collaboration. I will highlight the importance of navigating the boundary between work and personal life roles and the pivotal role of online platforms in shaping ongoing professional relationships, offering practical insights for employees managing boundary-blurring interactions in the modern workplace.