Extra, extra: what do you think?

An interesting event occurred on Maggie Stiefvater's blog and I am looking for some extra analyses.

Maggie received a public note on a networking site asking for homework help (asking to be reminded of the ending of Shiver for a project) that was due the next day. She posted the note on her blog as an example of the dozens of notes she receives asking for homework help and her annoyance at these shortcut-seeking actions. In the comments, lots of people chipped in about the laziness of students and the ridiculous idea that an author should help you with your homework.

Well apparently things got a little heavy-handed and it turned out that the inquirer in question was only a middle-schooler who did not realize his/her error. Maggie has since taken down the post and reassured everyone that "poking at the ignorant and innocent is not amusing like poking at the lazy and indolent." I believe that to be a very diplomatic way of saying, "play nice with those who actually try versus those who don't try."

Now it seems, some fans are revoking their fandom claiming that she is cruel for ridiculing a poor student and that she should apologize for her behavior. They also claim that she is not being a very good role model for the young adults that she writes for.

Personally, I think she has every right to do what she pleases. If it had been a confidential letter I would say otherwise, but this person made it public on their own and it ended up becoming a case of being in the "wrong place at the wrong time." This student got caught in an author's justifiable frustration and annoyance due to a constant bombardment of requests for help that is not really warranted. I believe that Maggie has done nothing to be sorry for and that she reacted accordingly. Some of the comments (which were also taken down) seemed to rant and rave a bit much on behalf of Maggie and bordered on crossing a line, but I don't think that was Maggie's intention.

So now that you have the details, what do you think? Do you think Maggie's actions were inappropriate? What about the commenters? Should they get off scot-free, while Maggie is taking some mean comments? Also, do you think that this is a wider issue of social media and networking? Let the comments/ideas roll!