Common sense is not always so common... and certain professionals should shy away from social media more than others. Doctors and lawyers should be extremely careful what they do on facebook... public servants should also watch what they say -- especially when it's being recorded on a "permanent" record like Facebook or Twitter.

I think there was was even a Twitter service that recovered all the deleted Tweets from politicians... to show what politicians should be embarrassed about.

It should be common sense, surely, what to discuss and what not to discuss on Facebook.  Apparently not.

" I kept my FB account because I don't talk about work on it anyways."

And that's the best strategy one should follow in their lives.Just learn to separate your work from your social activities and social interactions..Why to tell the world that I am being exploited at work? when you know that this will going to be end in smoke at the end of the day plus can also leave you in fear of losing job.  

"What about a circumstance in which you're aware that your employer violates labor laws, discriminates in hiring or misrepresents its products?"

You are right but at the end  of the day what will you get even after doing all this?  Will your employer listen to you and agree with you in  this circumstance and not blame you for being disrespectful online? I don't think so because if you have not been heard at the workplace how would you expect that he will listen to you online and try to solve your miseries? except you will be kicked out off  your job with a label of "a misbehaviour" and that's it..

I work for a police department here in AZ and we recently had a very serious discussion in one of our meetings. Basically, we were very strongly advised to deleted our FB accounts. Seems people were talking about stuff concerning the calls we handled. Details about a crime that made the news etc... We were told people could get fired over the information that they were posting and that, since it is public record, an attorney could get a hold of it and use it against the city. I kept my FB account because I don't talk about work on it anyways. Thoughts?

hounhosp - I think breaches in confidentiality, whether online or elsewhere, are clearly  illegal. What we're talking about here is the gray area. If my boss constantly subjects our team to verbal abuse, is that fact really confidential? What if we see that our colleagues, who are exposed to hazardous circumstances, aren't given the proper medical benefits?

These aren't a matter of confidentiality or company information. We're talking about working conditions here, and while a competitor may use these against an employer with respect to hiring the best people, we can't forget that they're work isssues at the core. Sometimes, complaining to HR just won't solve things. That's when I think a public outcry is quity justified.

Hopefully these laws, if enacted on a broad enough scale will force employers to think twice about taking action on legitimate complaints employees make on social networks. The push back is necessary, and my hope is that it'll result in fairer corporate policies on how employees utilize social networks on or off the clock.

Juicy topic! I'm very glad that it's within our legal right to publiically criticise an employer, though I agree with Mitch that in reality, there will always be repercussions.

@lin I just can't think of any circumstance where it would be a good idea to publicly and permanently diss an employer, either current or past.

What about a circumstance in which you're aware that your employer violates labor laws, discriminates in hiring or misrepresents its products?

hounhosp - A company looking to punish an employee will find a way to do it.

I often wonder what's really going on when I read about somebody dismissed from work for what appears to be a silly reason. 

@Mitch,

"It's hard to imagine that the law will entirely protect employees from retribution."

That is what I think as well. Employees better use their new freedom with caution.