Personal Vs Professional Networking

A common problem for those of us who have profiles on Social Networking sites like Facebook,Linked In is to draw a line between Professional and Personal Relationships.
There is little or no doubt that Relationship Matters and it's not What you know but Who you know. Lets take a look at the two most common scenarios that I have had to deal with.

What do you do when a coworker requests to add you on Facebook?

So you go out for a couple drinks with a bunch of coworkers to celebrate an official accomplishment. The next day you get a friend request on Facebook. You can choose to
a) ignore and have a few awkward moments at work
b) accept and have your coworker look at your personal life
c) set up a limited profile (sans the personal spice). but if your coworker is slightly net savvy they would know right away that the profile is a little bare.

Solution: DO NOT post anything on your profile you dont want people at work to see. If you live by this rule, you would not have an uneasy feel when you a get a coworker friend request. And who knows having your coworker on facebook might help them understand your personality and improve your working relationship as well.

What do you do when a high school friend requests to add you on LinkedIn?

This is not half as bad as the Scenario 1, but things can get a little messy when your friend decides to write you recommendation about how he helped you with your Math Assignment in School. Well firstly that is not something you would like on your LinkedIn profile. If your friend does send you a recommendation, I would send him a friendly reply declining the recommendation but thanking him for the thought. Similarly, I would refrain from sending recommendations to people that I haven't worked with or wouldn't recommend on a professional capacity. He might be a great guy to hang out with but that is not what LinkedIn is for.

Finally, setting up personal rules such as limited profiles on facebook, or a general rule that I will not add coworkers on facebook might help if you stick to without prejudice. Similarly on LinkedIn, connecting only to known people and reducing the noise might help you fulfill your goal for using the tools. At the end of the day, what you get out of it is totally dependent on how you want to use it. The tool is only as good as the toolsman.