I sat in on a fascinating presentation called “The Risks and Rewards of Online Social Networking in the Workplace” hosted by the Human Resources Association of New York. The presentation was geared towards HR professionals and focused on creating social media policies in the workplace to protect employees and employers.

It’s clear that companies are becoming more proactive in their management of social media in the workplace and many will begin to revise their employee handbooks to reflect their social media policy, create employment agreements that clearly spell out company social media rules, and dedicate resources to training employees on the dos and don’ts of social media in the workplace.

For decades, many companies have had a clear policy that prohibits employees from giving personal references for people they have worked with at that company. When employers check references on a potential hire, they are often rerouted to the company’s HR department where very limited information such as job titles and dates of employment are shared. With the advent of new social media policies, I think it’s just a matter of time before companies formalize their policies around giving LinkedIn recommendations because they don’t want to be saddled with the potential liability these recommendations can create.

In addition, don’t be surprised if companys start implementing rules around friending on Facebook. It’s not unrealistic to assume that companies will prohibit bosses from friending subordinates to minimize the potential for creating a hostile workplace and decrease the likelihood of harassment suits. Or companies may propose strict guidelines for friending or connecting with competitors because this activitiy could result in proprietary company information getting in the wrong hands.

Thinking about writing a blog that chronicles your experiences at your new company? Think again. More companies will start to formalize policies that require disclaimers on personal blogs or prohibit use of the company name or company images on the blog.

I’m certainly not trying to paint a doom and gloom “big brother” picture of social media in the workplace and I believe that many companies will find ways to embrace social media in the workplace while protecting the rights of employees and employers.

But as companies create more clearly defined social media policies, job seekers may face new challenges in finding advocates for their candidacy. So my motto for right now for sourcing LinkedIn recommendations and building up your contact list is “Get ‘em while you can” because the rules of the game could change tomorrow.