dear internet,
what a terrible question title.
anyway, so what do you do when a subordinate tries to "friend" you on a social networking site?
by the way: you dislike this subordinate. he has no people skills and is remarkably... creepy... he tries to impress, but he is a goon. he knows you dont like him, but has been trying recently to become more buddy-buddy, only increasing the creepy nature of his overall personality. he makes people uncomfortable. did i mention creepy? he purchased for you, for no reason, a frank zappa cd. you dont like frank zappa. he also purchased your boss (his two-levels-up) a cd of a 1970s comedy troupe for no reason other than he thinks it will endear him to you and your boss (who was creeped out and gave you both cds). your boss has told you to try and stop being such a flaming bitch recently, so you have to be kind whenever you tell this subordinate to stop being creepy. now he wants to "friend" you on one of these sites.
he has two friends, and that might be stretching it since one is his wife. he will notice if you ignore the request. he will be hurt. you don't mind hurting people, but you still have to deal with him. you leave this position in three months...
so, internet, what do you do in the interim?
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I dunno which social networking site you're on for this, but on Facebook if you ignore someone, it doesn't notify them. It just makes it seem like you haven't responded at all. Soooo, unless he specifically brings it up in person, ignoring him gets you off the hook for that particular problem.
Beyond that.... yikes?
Yikes indeed, especially if you have to face him everyday! As Magpie waves and hugs Hi to Magpie says, if it is FB, ignore and hurriedly block him, or ignore and ummm make excuses along the lines of you don't really look at/ use the website much? (As you can see, sometimes I am a cowardy custard).
Subordinates bit, you know best, but if I tried that I'd be in trouble. However, always beware of anyone who creeps you out/ feel like their invading your personal space, call it intuition or what have you - that gut instinct should not be denied!
Otherwise, ummm . . . good luck?!
he hasn't said anything at work... yet. he knows i find him creepy because i tell him he has no people skills. i can't imagine why he thinks i would be his friend anywhere, to include on facebook. i don't want his creepy comments on my page, or creepy references made at work!
If you use FB is exactly as you arrange your circle of friends, life would be easy: he is not your friend in real life - you are work colleagues. Therefore, sorry, you won't be friends on FB either.
But that of course falls down if you have made FB-friends with your super ignoring that rule. But then, ummm... why?
Don't mind my comments - I'm not qualified to advise you here, after all I refuse to use any social networking sites that interface too closely to real life, for exactly that reason - that most humans are dumb, and the word "friend" has been abducted, abused and left for dead by places like FB...