It is a common fear among users of Facebook and other social media around the world -- how to deal with a friend request from your boss or employee.

　　A survey released on Thursday found that 56 percent of Americans say it is irresponsible to be friends with a boss and 62 percent say it is wrong to be friends with an employee.

　　But 76 percent believe it is acceptable to be friends with a workplace peer, according to the survey of 1,000 people by Liberty Mutual's Responsibility Project.

　　"When the roles change what do you do then? Do you unfriend someone if they have now been promoted to be your boss or if you're now their boss," said researcher Kelly Holland.

　　"We get into some really sticky situations there in terms of what people will think is responsible," she said.

　　When using social media at work, 73 percent say it is not appropriate to update your Facebook status, 82 percent say you should not upload photos, 72 percent believe tweeting is wrong and 79 percent say it is not acceptable to watch online videos.

　　Yet 66 percent say it is fine to check your personal email while at work.

　　"When people focus on responsibility, they know what the responsible thing is to do but whether they are doing that in practice or not is a different story," said Holland.

　　Americans are split on whether companies should review the social media profiles of job candidates with 52 percent saying it is appropriate and 48 percent saying it is unacceptable.

　　Social media can also lead to some difficult decisions when it comes to family and relationships. Sixty percent of those polled say that it is "completely acceptable" to unfriend an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend.

　　More than 40 percent of parents believe it is irresponsible to post photos of children online. Thirty one percent monitor their children's Facebook accounts and almost 70 percent are friends with their children on Facebook or MySpace. But 72 percent limit the time their children spend on social media networks.

　　The poll was taken between January 12-15.

　　在Facebook和其他社交媒体上存在着这样一个普遍担忧，那就是：如何处理来自老板或雇员的好友请求。

　　上周四发布的一项调查发现，56%的美国人认为在社交网站上加老板为好友是不负责任的做法，62%的人称加下属为好友是错误的。

　　但这项由“自由互助责任项目”开展的针对一千多的人的调查发现，76%的人认为加普通同事为好友可以接受。

　　调查人员凯利•霍兰德说：“如果职位变动了怎么办?如果现在你的同事升职了，成为你的上司，或者你成了他们的上司，难道再解除好友关系?”

　　她说：“在调查究竟什么才是负责任的行为方面，我们遇到了一些很棘手的情况。”

　　对于在工作时间使用社交媒体这一问题，73%的人认为不应在此期间更新Facebook状态，82%的人认为不应该上传照片，72%的人认为不应“推特”，79%的人认为不应观看在线视频。

　　但66%的受访者认为在工作时间查看私人邮箱可以接受。

　　霍兰德说：“当谈到责任时，人们知道该怎么做，但做不做就是另外一回事了。”

　　对于用人单位是否应该查看应聘者在社交网站上的个人资料的问题，受访者的观点存在分歧，52%的人认为这没什么不妥，而48%的人认为不可接受。

　　此外，在涉及家庭和感情关系的问题上，社交媒体可能也会造成一些让人为难的情况。60%的受访者称与前男友或前女友解除好友关系“完全可以接受”。

　　超过40%的父母认为把孩子的照片上传到网上是不负责任的做法。31%的父母监视孩子的Facebook账户，近70%的父母是孩子在Facebook或MySpace上的好友。但72%的父母对孩子使用社交网站加以限制。

　　该调查于1月12日至15日开展。

　　Vocabulary:

　　sticky: difficult or unpleasant 难办的;棘手的;让人为难的