If you haven't heard about Lindsey Stone yet, chances are good that you haven't looked at Facebook in about a month. I've caught a lot of flack for my opinions in the past, so it's not surprising that I caught heat when I went to her defense.
But the key thing we must remember when we are talking about our freedom of speech and our right to express ourselves is that we give that right to everyone, not just the people who think like we do, or say things we agree with. That, by definition, is what a "right" is. (Otherwise, it's actually just a privilege.)
There are more lessons to learn here, though, and the price Lindsey paid is in all likelihood a foreshadowing of what the future will hold for everyone....
I understand there are employers who demand your password into Facebook. I would not want to work for any that behave that way, and fortunately, I don’t. I say the latter because with unemployment as high as it still is, I don’t know what I would do if it were demanded of me. These are hard times, and the economy is still in a frail state.