I was asked this question from Christine Bonner Sierra… I met Christine in a business context. She said…
“So this brings up an interesting question in the world of social media - my facebook account is full of working moms who are complaining about ear infections, class field trips and little time to themselves.
Do you recommend two accounts for most colleagues? One for the LinkedIn type connections and one to address the non-work life? I’ll be curious your thoughts before I confirm you into the world of strep throat and Grey’s Anatomy critiques. I hadn’t given it much thought until I got your request. Thanks for making me think today 
”
So what is the right response. Some FB friends weighed in:
Kelly Guilmette at 4:39pm October 30
I guess you could have a personal account and a business account if you were planning to keep those friends seperated… If I were presently in the work force, I probably would not want my coworkers to see that the highlight of my day has been catching a fly that was following me around the house.
Matthew Marx at 3:43pm October 30
John IMO no. Too much to manage that way for me personally. To convince me to add my business (LinkedIn) network into my FB I’d need some sort of a “business view” where I could flag contacts as business contacts and they would see certain business-related content only… Hope all is well.
Matthew Wood at 2:46pm October 30
That’s what LinkedIn is for, right?
Connor Murphy at 3:04pm October 30
The BBC says that Bosses ’should embrace Facebook’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7695716.stm
As for LinkedIn - they have just launched a whole suite of collaboration and networking tools that are targeted at business networking. So I would agree that Facebook for personal, LinkedIn for business is a good split…
However - Companies will … Read Moreneed their own internal versions to protect privacy, IP, confidentiality etc… . Many companies are moving to fill this space. Many open source plugins are popping up that mimic facebook and linkedin behaviours. Small example would be a plugin like FaceBox for JQuery. I have also seen web parts for SharePoint being developed.
Linda Bent at 3:37pm October 30
My question for you is - what would your alias be for “Personal” so your “Business” networks don’t recognize you? 
My Take
Cop out answer: It depends. But… I would say Christine should use one Facebook account (they will find you anyway, right Linda?) And, use the Privacy settings where needed. Under privacy settings you can set up groups and assign permissions to each group.
Most people are using Linked in more for business and Facebook more for personal, but the lines are blurred in our transparent social media driven society… if your friends aren’t likely to offend and you’re working with friends - one Facebook should work fine!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I find that using the privacy settings I can separate my real “friends” from “associates” and make small adjustments to what they can and cannot see.
On the other hand, I have found that by allowing associates in to my profile I have created more intimate relationships and had more “real” conversations about life and business. This ultimately does aid in furthering business objectives and motivating people to a common end.
After reading some of the comments, both for and against, I probably would also use the “It depends” answer. However, after reading this blog ( http://cli.gs/QUAqm5 ), I think the idea of having ONE online personality goes a long way to establishing credibility, and marketing yourself.
I think Ms. Sierra hits the nail on the head here. The intimate and personal details that are exposed through Facebook are somewhat juxtaposed with the needs of business relationships.
Certainly if you have a familiarity with a business associate (or want to have a deeper one) then you can add them to your Facebook friends at perhaps a somewhat restricted privacy level, but that’s different than a standard business contact.
Facebook’s privacy settings are not capable of hiding things on a granular level. It’s more of a broad swath approach. This means you can’t pick and choose which items on your Wall are visible by whom, just who can see your Wall or not.
It’s also quite obvious to the user when their access to most anything has been restricted, so accepting them as a limited friend can send a possibly unwanted “hi, how are you! don’t touch me!” message.
I keep my business contacts on LinkedIn and people I want to know my personal life on Facebook. Sometimes one also gets added to the other.
People worried about maintaining two identities should be able to find a LinkedIn app for Facebook so they can view LI from within FB at least. I think the last time I checked it wasn’t receiving good reviews, but it’s worth checking on.
My big question is what is the proper etiquette for declining a Facebook request and moving them to LinkedIn, considering they want you as a FB friend and you don’t!
I must stick with having only ONE account on Facebook.
I have to do that because … I am the author of the blog listed by #2, Kevin Mogee! LOL! (Thanks, Kevin Mogee!)
HOWEVER - Let me add this: I believe you should choose different tools, not different identities to accomplish this goal. Thus, I agree with Matthew and Connor above, but disagree with Linda.
I solved this challenge by creating a Facebook account which is 90% personal … AND a LinkedIn account which is 90% professional.
In each case, I’m kevinmhuff. As I am on Twitter. Plaxo. DIGG…etc. kevinmhuff is my ipersona and I use it everywhere. A simple search on Google of the term “kevinmhuff” yields many pages of content on one topic only: me.
That is why I suggest both: a) different apps for different reasons, and b) the same ipersona (online ID name) for both!
My friend Laura added some comments via FB Chat:
How is Facebook, etc. going to change the way we work remote? It is my new Big Question.
I didn’t know there were privacy features with groups in facebook - that is great!
I think keeping linked in for work and facebook for play is a great idea but since you often can’t choose how people reach out to you, your plan is probably the best.
Isn’t that kind of the point of Facebook…that we get to see people as more than one-dimentional roles?
So how is facebook going to change the way we work remote?
Is it going to solve some of our issues with feeling isolated when working from home?
The multiple-worlds thing is kind of the reason I like to keep a low profile on facebook
I think transparency is paramount when it comes to successful sales.
Facebook is personal, intimate, and really allows viewers with full-access (another point I will mention momentarily) to really get an inside look at who you are. FaceBook has the ability to disprove the myth that surrounds so many sales professionals… do I need to really explain that myth?!?
I provide ALL prospects and clients with access to my FB account. They get to know the person they have been speaking with on the telephone… sheds light on who I am. I think it’s fantastic.
FB continues to break down barriers in business and social virtual world.
As mentioned earlier, FB has privacy settings- giving certain views only limited access to ones profile. So, for the sales people looking slimy in the singles bar… well, they can protect themselves.
I could go on for hours here, but I think I’ve made my point. SHOW YOUR FACE, SHOW YOURSELF!! It’s the true mantra of social media… BE TRUE TO THE GAME, which essentially is BE TRUE TO YOURSELF!