Joining a new office is like inheriting twenty potential social media buddies. The urge to become Instagram BFFs with your new boss and uncover the inner-thoughts of the VP on Twitter builds with each click of your keyboard. So, you uncover their personal profiles through the tangled twist and turns of the world wide web. We call it curiosity; but it’s actually stalking. It’s ok – we all do it. But there is a stalking etiquette that should be adhered to in order to maintain the semblance of a sane employee.

Welcome to 2019; where being Instagram friends with someone can be equated to brief eye contact. Most everyone with a social profile has collected hundreds of “friendships.” So being friends with your boss is no big deal, right? Wrong! Don’t friend your boss before your internship. Don’t friend your boss during your internship unless he/she instigates it. Maybe friend your boss after your internship, if you developed a close relationship. Even though the title Facebook “friend” means close to nothing, it’s a line no intern should cross before or during an internship.

I have a former boss (whom I was Facebook friends with only in order to make me an admin of a page) who posted on Facebook expressing her distaste for friend requests from professional colleagues. To quote her: “There is a difference between Facebook and LinkedIn.”

Speaking of LinkedIn; LinkedIn is defined as the Facebook of the professional world. It’s an online platform made for professional bragging rights. Still – there is an etiquette associated with connecting with a boss on LinkedIn. It is advised not to connect with your boss on LinkedIn until the very end or closure of your internship. It associates the closing of your time working together and opens the door for continued communication. Connecting with a boss at the beginning of your internship is a bit too eager. Let them take the lead.

As for your fellow interns and colleagues? Add away!

Need more advice? Check out our on-demand course on how to score the internship of your dreams here, or schedule a one-on-one session with Carla.