STATEN ISLAND, New York: With the current ubiquity of social media, it’s relatively easy to find, friend and keep tabs on neighbours, casual acquaintances, or your high school sweetheart. But is this increased connectivity a curse when it comes to mingling with co-workers? A new study says it just might be.

“One-third of people prefer not to connect with co-workers on social media at all, and one in four have seen something on social media that lowered their opinion of a co-worker,” noted research from All About Cookies, a research-focused website that recently surveyed 1,500 US adults to learn how they deal with social media in the workplace.

And since 27% of employees have seen a co-worker post negatively about their workplace and one-in-10 have seen someone fired for social media posts, the overall consensus is to avoid “friending” a co-worker at all costs.

“Social media isn’t always a pretty place, and sometimes people post and say things online that can have real-world consequences on their job,” the study noted.

But the connections are still happening, despite those consequences: According to the report, the social media platform where people are the most likely to connect with co-workers is Facebook, as a whopping 85% of people who use Facebook say they’re friends with at least one co-worker on that site.

Two other platforms boast connection rates over 50%. About 59% of Instagram users say they follow or are followed by a co-worker, and 57% of Snapchat users are connected with a co-worker as well.

And while many people are connected to co-workers, that doesn’t mean they all actually want to be. In fact, one out of every three people surveyed said they would prefer not to be friend-requested by co-workers on social media at all.

“Sixty-two percent of people said a desire to keep work and personal lives separate keeps them from connecting with co-workers online,” the study said.

So how do you keep your work and personal lives separate? All About Cookies offers these tips:

- Restrict who can see your profile. Learn how to adjust privacy settings on social media to ensure who can and cannot view your profile or posts.

- Avoid common social media mishaps. Be careful about what you post online, disable location services and create a separate account if you use the page for business purposes.

- Stay sceptical of scams. Even if a co-worker agrees to friend you on social media, be wary of any strange messages or requests.

 - TNS