Rant Alert

Hello, all.

Okay, I'm about to get up on my soapbox, so if no one is in the mood to read a lecture/rant, you should probably stop reading.

I'm a member of a national writer's organization, and a part of their online community. I subscribe to an e-mail loop that is dedicated to the business of writing.

People post questions or comments about all manner of writing related topics. It's one of the reasons I love that group, because of the wealth of information to be gleaned there.

But today another sort of e-mail went through our loop. One I'm pretty sure isn't allowed, and no, it wasn't something distasteful.

Someone was commenting about a movie they had seen, and wanted to "warn" the rest of us about the misleading marketing that led her into the treacherous trap of watching that movie. She just wished someone had warned her about the contents before she watched.

Now, the problem I have with this, and it's petty, so feel free to judge me on this one, but I really resented this woman's "warning."

If it's her opinion that the content is questionable, then she should write about it on her personal blog. She should call her friends in the real world and tell them how disappointed/upset/horrified she was about it.

But don't go on a professional organization's e-mail loop and start spouting off about it. There are other parts of the Internet for that.

Something similar happened right before the election last year. A woman from a professional conference I had attended sent an e-mail article about one of the candidates to everyone in her contacts list, which included me.

The only reason she had my e-mail address to begin with was because you had to provide one when you registered for the conference so you could get updates to schedule changes, etc. She was the director of the conference, and there was no reason she should have been sending her personal opinions about her political views to attendees of that conference.

I just found it irritating and rude.

If you're in a personal setting and these kinds of conversations get started, that's one thing. But I view these types of organizations and conferences as business-related, and you wouldn't go into a board meeting at your office and start sounding off about your personal opinions in front of your co-workers and your boss.

At least I wouldn't. If the conversation were directed that way, and my opinion was asked for then I would give it. But no one on that loop asked for her opinion on the movie, especially since this organization is for books.

So now I will hop down off my soapbox since I am done spouting off in my little corner of the cyber-world, and let you all get on with your day.

Later.