Fired for Facebook slams: Is Facebook a water cooler or a blog?
Fired for Facebook slams: Is Facebook a water cooler or a blog?
Souza’s former employer says she was fired for repeated issues but they admit that the Facebook thing was a part of it.
But the NLRB says venting on Facebook is the same as office chatter at the water cooler. It’s simply the way employees vent their feelings in 2010. I mean, when’s the last time you chatted at the actual water cooler?
Then again, nothing you say at the water cooler can get distributed to half a billion computers around the world. So where does Facebook fit in to modern labor law?
We talk to Raymond Ku from Case Western Reserve University School of Law where he’s the co-director of their Cyberspace Law and Policy Office. He says Facebook is both a water cooler and a blog.
We also talk to Judith Donath, founder of the Sociable Media Group at MIT Media Lab and a fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. She talks about this idea of an invisible wall of privacy, where people can see you even if you don’t see them.
While lawyers and judges work all this out, the best thing to do is still to avoid slamming yout boss on Facebook. Hopefully you knew that already.
Also in this show, Bon Jovi has killed rock music. They announced a deal to incorporate their music and branding into a series of Facebook games, including one where you take care of imaginary fish. Somewhere, Elvis weeps.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
