• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, February 14, 2012

Just in case the workplace isn’t confusing enough, the rise of online social networks has added a whole new layer of (potentially) awkward and uncomfortable dynamics to the relationship between bosses and employees. But this situation doesn’t have to be awkward and uncomfortable -- just probably.

There’s clearly a range of opinion about the propriety and advisability of being online “friends” with one’s supervisor. That judgment is based on the results of an online survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by Russell Herder, a strategic marketing firm.  Overall 21% of respondents said they are Facebook friends with their work supervisor, versus 74% who aren’t. Among those who are Facebook friends with their supervisor, 46% initiated the Facebook friendship themselves, while 38% said their boss initiated. On the awkward tip, 29% of respondents said they felt pressure to accept their supervisor’s invitation to connect on a social network.

However younger workers are significantly more likely to be online friends with their bosses (and to think this is okay), Russell Herder found, with 26% of respondents ages 18-34 saying they are Facebook friends with their supervisors, versus just 10% among those ages 35+. Likewise, just 28% of Facebook users ages 18-34 think it is inappropriate to be Facebook friends with a supervisor, compared to 44% among users ages 55+.

Again unsurprisingly, Heavy Facebook users are also more likely to be Facebook friends with their supervisors -- 23% of people who check in daily, compared to 12% who log in less than once a day. Among the former group, 31% think it’s inappropriate to connect with a supervisor online, compared to 41% among the latter group.

Russell Herder also found some substantial differences in how the genders view their online relationships with supervisors. While upwards of 90% of both men and women said they had a “social” relationship with their supervisor online, 70% of men said they also considered it a “professional” relationship, versus 50% of women. Likewise, a third of men said the online relationship enables them to do their job more effectively, compared to just 15% of women.