What do you do when you get that e-mail from Facebook saying so-and-so who happens to work for you wants to be your friend?

And if you're the one who made the request to "friend" your boss, was it the right thing to do in the first place?

It may be all the rage to profess online bosom buddyness on social network sites like Facebook. But not everyone is interested. Especially your boss, who might feel downright awkward about the whole notion.

Apparently a lot of them do feel weird about it, as shown by a recent poll developed by the staffing service OfficeTeam, which randomly surveyed senior executives at large companies.

Asked how comfortable they felt about being "friended" by employees they manage, 48 percent said they were uncomfortable about it. Why?

Human resource consultant Linda Konstan doesn't want to get that chummy. When asked, she tells employees, "As much as I'd love to be your friend, it's very difficult to review your friend."

Sarah Savage, marketing manager for a California technology firm, says she's not comfortable with it since she's not much older than the people she supervises and is trying to establish her role as supervisor, not as a friend.

Jim Andrews, a senior vice president for a Chicago company adopted a no-friending policy for co-workers and employees, explaining to them that "It's not personal and doesn't mean I don't like them ... but that I don't think it's appropriate."

Yes, social networking Web sites can be and are used for business purposes. But don't assume everyone wants to make contact with you this way. In particular, your boss.

If you're using your Facebook profile for your career, then inviting your boss — and co-workers — might be a good idea, says Dan Schwabel, author of "Me 2.0." But it's another thing if Facebook is for keeping in touch with close friends and sharing pictures and private information.

First, read your company's social networking policy. Schwabel points to a survey by Proofpoint that said so far this year 8 percent of employers sacked someone for their behavior on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. That's double from last year when only 4 percent said they fired someone over social media misuse.

And keep in mind that Facebook can always do more harm than good because it wasn't built as a professional career network, Schwabel says.

While he appreciates the desire to connect, public relations counselor Nate Towne says co-workers and those he manages "are not wanted on Facebook." But to acknowledge their good intentions, he created a special "co-worker" friend list where only basic profile information is listed.

If you do invite your boss onto your Facebook page, keep that fact in your memory bank. This small tidbit apparently slipped the mind of one woman who wrote disparaging boss comments on her Facebook page. As reported on TheNextWeb, she wrote (much of it is not printable):

"OMG I HATE MY JOB! My boss is a total (blankety blank) always making me do (blank) stuff just to piss me off!"

Her boss wrote back: "I guess you forgot about adding me on here?" He goes on to remind her that she has "2 weeks left on your 6 month trial period. Don't bother coming in tomorrow ... And yes, I'm serious."

On the other hand, if you're the boss, maybe you do want to know what your staff really thinks.

Interestingly, the Office-Team survey also found that most executives were not comfortable being "friended" by their bosses, co-workers, clients or vendors either. Apparently when it comes to mixing business and personal, sometimes more isn't merrier.

Reach Andrea Kay at andrea@andreakay.com.