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Facebook turned five in January, and the social networking site has over 150 million users. It feels like everyone I know is on Facebook, from my dentist to my sister-in-law to friends from fourth grade who are now tattoo artists and soccer moms.

A Lemondrop reader writes: "My lame-o boss Facebook-friended me. Ew. What do I do?"

We've all been there, right? We open our e-mail and find a dreaded invitation to connect with an ex-boyfriend, a former roommate, or a colleague with no sense of boundaries.

Some folks swear by the "accept request, then quietly de-friend the next day" approach. Here's my take for when it happens with a co-worker or supervisor:

First, Ignore
You are never required to accept a request on any social network. Whether it's from your mother or your clergyman, you always have the right to say no.

Click here to find out what to do if your boss presses the issue.



Lie if You Have To
If you are pressured to accept a friend request from someone outside of your comfort zone, feel free to lie. This person doesn't understand the nature of your relationship, so it's OK to fudge the truth in the interest of self-preservation. You can say, "Wow, that's odd. I didn't get your request." If they push it, lie again. Keep lying until they stop asking about it. Eventually, they'll get the hint.

Call it Out
If someone -- such as your boss -- doesn't take the hint, you can always retreat to the letter of the law. Let your boss know that Facebook is a personal site that you use to stay connected to a small group of people. You can say, "I use it to stay connected to family and friends. I'm sure you understand."

That being said, you should look into your company's Internet policy and be sure that your boss couldn't use your rejection, along with your excessive time on the Internet, against you when it's time for your annual performance review.

Facebook and MySpace do not send rejection letters to users, so I recommend declining the invitation from your boss and pretending like it never arrived in your inbox. Your supervisor isn't your friend, you have no idea what he will do with your personal information, and he does not need that kind of access into your life.

Laurie Ruettimann is a writer, speaker, and HR exec with Fortune 500 experience. She blogs at Punk Rock Human Resources.

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