Social media: "The new water cooler"

Here is a great new post by Jezebel on social media and workplace relations, a fascinating area of study that researchers (and lawmakers) have only just begun to explore.

http://www.socialdon.com/blog/funny-facebook-facts/

And while employment is perhaps the most obvious issue to make us consider the real world repercussions of our social media behavior, it is important to ask the question about offline consequences of online posting in general. A friend of mine shared a story with me recently about her brother, who was kicked off his high school sports team for a post he made criticizing the coach. I've also observed that the way people post on social media can result in them being mocked in offline conversations.

This also touches on the critical issue of private versus public life and back versus front stage discourse (For recent research in the area of "publicness," See Baym & Boyd). Should we be held responsible for what we say to our online social network, or should we be allowed to blow off steam at the virtual water cooler? (This is clearly a much-debated topic based on the commenting at the end of the relevant New York Times article.)