• November 5, 2007

The Pluses and Minuses of Free Speech

I’ve always had an interest in constitutional law and even read Supreme Court decisions on the weekends. (Yes, I know that this makes me a geek among geeks.) Free speech cases are particularly interesting because they require a balance between our first enumerated right and limitations necessary for our security and well being. When I think about these cases, I usually come down on the side of protecting the right to free speech unless there is a clear and imminent security threat. Only recently, have I learned that free speech is all fun and games until someone is talking about you.

You may have noticed that eXpresso has been getting a lot of press lately. This is very exciting and a lot of fun. Like most publications on the web, many of those that have covered eXpresso have invited their readers to post comments related to the article. For the most part, the posts about eXpresso have been very positive and quite gratifying to read. However, sometimes people post comments that are unflattering or worse, factually incorrect. My initial reactions to these comments are very emotional. “Do they let just anyone post on these things?” “Has this person even seen eXpresso?” “Hello … Did you read the article?” And most of all, “Hey, you’re hurting my feelings!” If you can’t tell, I’m very proud of what we are doing with eXpresso and just a tad bit defensive. I really love it when users or others make suggestions, ask questions or even point out flaws. I really hate it when people say things that are untrue or just make no sense.

So what to do? We could post responses or “clarifications” to each uncomplimentary post. We could try to avoid publicity in publications that allow comments. We could cry in our beer. I wanted to do all of those things at first, but I’ve finally come around to a different point of view. The Internet has given everyone a voice and some people are using it to talk about eXpresso. That’s pretty cool. If we continue to offer a useful service and make our users happy, they will say enough good things about us to offset whatever negative voices are out there. And maybe just the fact that there is a debate will interest readers enough to have a look at eXpresso for themselves. It is a “marketplace of ideas” after all and the market will decide which ideas to accept and which to reject.

Voltaire said, “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” I won’t go that far, but I will say, “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I’m glad you said something.” This blog takes comments from readers. Feel free to say what you like.

• By Amber