Attack of the "List Moms"

Okay, I didn't post about this when it happened because I was a little irritated (no, scratch that, I was really pissed off) and I didn't want my blog to be a place of endless yammering about petty little annoyances that really don't mean much in the grand scheme of life and the world in general. But something happened today that brought it back to mind, and actually hammered it in a little deeper. So here it goes.

Quite a while back I started subscribing to a yahoo group dedicated to knitting information. Instead of individual emails, I get it in digest form, usually just once a day. I spent a fair amount of time lurking, and then gradually, once in a while, would post a reply to someone's query for info when I had something to contribute. But I had never sent a new post to the list. This went on for many many moons.

Then one day the heavens opened, trumpets sounded (or perhaps it was a Boston Terrier barking?), and a chorus of angels (looking suspiciously like Jess) descended to inform me that I was being invited to join Ravelry. I was incredibly excited and after I realized that all my photos needed to be in Flickr (not any photo host, only Flickr) and how time consuming that would be to set up, I thought it would be a good idea to share that info with others who were still on the waiting list, 'cause wow - I wished I'd known. So to be a helpful little member of the knitting community I sent the following note to the list for posting:

I just recieved my Ravelry invite and signed up this week. (Yippeee!) What I had not realized is that in order to put my photos up they had to be up on Flickr first! Which is fine, I should probably do that anyway, but I thought I'd share this in case anyone else was unaware of it. So if you are still waiting, it's definitely worth your while to linearize your waterfowl and get all your knitting images set up on Flickr now.

What I received in return was:

Kath,

While this post is tangentially about knitting, as it relates to Ravelry, we ask that all posts be 80% knitting content and the rest can be about other things. Please post about knitting, then about photos on Ravelry.

Mary XXX, co-listmom with Mary XXXXX, Patty XXXXX, Ruth XXXXXXX and Carol XXXXX

Okay, "tangentially"about knitting? 'Scuse me, did someone get the expand-your-vocabulary-toilet-paper for their birthday? Or a book on How To Use Big Words To Sound Snotty Without Hardly Trying? Yes, I know that's a childish reaction, but seriously, I have a fairly broad vocabulary and am quite capable of sounding intelligent, educated, and very well-read when it is appropriate. Emphasis on appropriate, because I don't think an emailed rejection is the place for it. Others may disagree, let 'em.

However, in the last two days the list digests have contained a total of ten (TEN!) postings from Ravelry newbies discussing their favorite features of the site. Not a specific pattern, or a specific yarn, just the features of the site. And that was the only subject of those postings, no other "knitting content" was included.

So - do I try commenting to the list (politely) and see if the "list moms" censor me? Or do I let this post be my vent and walk away? I can't decide.