Do you “friend” people you work with on Facebook? There could be reasons you should not.
Things change if a Facebook friend becomes the boss. If you are friends with a subordinate, you have the potential to get additional information you otherwise would not have. This information may have implications under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), if someone shares information on a medical condition.
As an HR person, you may learn things you don’t want to learn. You may learn something that could contribute to an adverse action due to the existence of what you learned, which may affect you and/or your organization if you take action against an employee. They could argue, “You learned I was pregnant, had bipolar, etc.”
Use the privacy settings on Facebook so only friends see what you post. Be aware if your colleagues see your social media posts and find it/them offensive, those feelings may spill over into the workplace and the posts may no longer be private.