Facebook faux pas

I had a Facebook friend request from my colleague in Australia. Normally my strict rule is no Facebook associations with current co-workers. But, I thought, after all he's in Australia, and I don't want to offend him. So I accepted the request.

Next thing I know I have a friend request from our new mutual manager in Houston. ARGH! The last thing I want is for my manager to know what I'm saying on Facebook! I've ignored that request.

The stupidity of my original decision hit me. Facebook knows nothing of geography, and I have no control over who my Facebook friends accept as friends.

But the damage was limited, and my Australia colleague is not a frequent Facebook denizen.

I was talking to my spiritual director about this. She said that for our generation, that was an entirely reasonable thing to do. It makes sense to be hospitable to a colleague, and in our minds Australia is very far away.  A younger generation might immediately appreciate the immediacy of the global internet community, but for us, no matter how tech-savvy we might be, that's not how we grew up understanding the world.

Feeling better, at least, that my initial response was not entirely irrational.