Free Speech and Social Media

13th October 2011 | The Web | 10 comments

A few days ago my rant on Facebook statuses brought up an argument on free speech. The argument being that people have a right to say whatever they want whenever they want.

Of course, I believe that this is true. People can post whatever they want on Facebook. But should they? In my opinion, no.

Listen , a few years ago you could have a online identity completely separate from your real one. The two weren’t as connected as they are now. You could have a whole world online that the people in your real life knew nothing about.

But now thanks to things like, Facebook, Twitter, blogging, it is harder to remain anonymous online. The people in your real life can find you. Trust me, this has been a hard fact for me to accept, but it is a fact. Because of this, people need to accept that what they do and say online can have real life consequences.

I have read a lot of articles that say that employers are checking out perspective employees online, looking at their Facebook and Twitter accounts and wherever else they may have an online presence. Let me ask you this, if you are interviewing for a new job would you want your perspective employer to see you bitching about your current job? Do you think that would make them want to hire you?

You shouldn’t be bashing your job, your boss, your family or your friends on Facebook and Twitter. It just isn’t appropriate, and the only person it makes look bad is you. So let me ask you this, why would you want to use your free speech to make yourself look bad? That just doesn’t make sense.

I’ve know said things on Facebook, Twitter, and maybe even this blog, that I probably shouldn’t have, after all nobody’s perfect, even if I like to think I am. But I try noy to do or say anything online that affects how the people in my life see me. While I may not care what people think of me, that doesn’t mean I want to be seen as a whiner, complainer or drama queen. So, I can’t let myself forget that there are real people reading my blog, Facebook and Twitter. People that I have to look in the eye everyday.

So, what do you think? Is it inappropriate to post certain things online? What do think about people who bash their jobs, and bosses on Facebook? Or talk trash about their family and friends? Or have you been lucky and never had to see these kind of posts? Let me know in the comments.