Have you ever come across posts that say, “Do not let your coworkers follow you on social media”?
At first, I thought, “Why not? I’m not posting anything controversial or weird.” It didn’t take long for me to realize there’s more to it. Some coworkers do become real friends, but others just want to see what you do outside of work so they can share it with others and create drama.
As long as you’re not doing anything harmful, what you do in your free time isn’t your coworker’s business. Still, some people go out of their way to watch what you post, secretly hatching a plan. Maybe they’re bored, or maybe they just don’t like you. It may sound like something from a movie or TV show, but it actually happens more often than you’d think.
Should you really block a coworker? The lesson I learned
As I said before, I never had a problem with coworkers finding me on social media. But there was one time I had to block someone from work because they got too interested in my side projects. It’s fine to be curious, but wanting to know every detail and then gossiping about it is just too much.
I don’t have a big presence on social media. I mostly share my work and interact with family, friends, and a few people from my field. When I use social media apps, I just want to laugh, learn something new, or save a recipe to try for myself. So when someone starts acting strange, I usually don’t notice until it’s almost too late. (Seriously, I need to get better at spotting that)
To protect my peace, the block button has become my best friend.
Do not feel bad about it
I’m still learning not to feel bad about protecting myself from the negative energy some people bring. They don’t feel bad about disturbing your peace, so you should do what’s best for you.
Header image credit; Photo by Codrut Tomescu’s Images on Canva Pro
