The blurring effect of friending

First, our social lives were dictated by MySpace; more recently, it's been Twitter. But the monarch of Internet social networks is still Facebook. It's infiltrated not only our social circles, but our classrooms and offices as well; we've gotten to the point where even the White House has a Facebook account.

This all sounds great in theory, but in practice, Facebook distorts professional relationships. Sue Murphy, manager of the National Human Resource Association, concluded that, "once you start to incorporate somebody that you are working for into a social, off-the-clock activity, you start to blur the lines of the relationship." Facebook's role in altering relationships between authority figures and their subordinates is the first step in a potentially chaotic butterfly effect. Not only does Facebook make for strange boss-employee relationships, it also has an impact on academia.

Ever find it awkward that your academic counselor or work-study boss has a Facebook? You're not the only one. It is common for teachers and students to add each other on Facebook. A school board in Lamar, Miss., recently created a policy prohibiting teachers and students from being friends on social-networking sites. What once was a simple social networking site has become a legal minefield.

Of course, teachers cannot be prohibited from having a Facebook thanks to the First Amendment. But there's no denying the consequences: The use of Facebook dilutes relationships of authority. And this dilution can occur on a sliding scale.

A student puts "beer pong" as a Facebook status. The student's RA (his or her friend on Facebook) sees it. Now, the RA is obligated by a position of authority to go down the hall and write up that student. But that's not what Facebook "friends" do, now, do they? The RA and his Facebook buddy are now in a very awkward gray area.

A memorandum was recently posted in the linguistics building here at NYU warning employees that friendships between colleagues stemming from the use of Facebook were compromising the dynamic of its work force. When you get a notification that your boss "just became a fan of Maxim's Hot 100!" it changes the way you view your superior. Things can also get weird on your employer's end when he or she reads your comment on a friend's wall that says, "God, my boss is Satan!"

Perhaps the most sensitive Facebook "friendship" is the one between teacher and student. Many NYU professors add their students on Facebook under the illusion that this fosters a sort of trusting, friendly environment that will advance the student's learning process. But in reality, it often results in the professors shattering their own academic credibility and beginning a personal relationship that really has no place in a classroom. I'm all for understanding my professors as multi-dimensional people with lives, but it is a significant change in relationship when students can view their teachers' personal lives with the click of a mouse.

Facebook is a great networking tool, but it should be used with discretion, particularly for college students who are just beginning to build relationships in the classroom and work place.

Relationships of authority such as professor-student, RA-resident and boss-employee should be respected and not tampered with. Adapting to the world of an often-positive media influence such as Facebook does not mean sacrificing professionalism and exposing your personal life.

Olivia Gonzalez is a contributing columnist.