Who's in charge of the Manilow Network?

Not you.

Unless you're one of TPTB lurking around, then that answer doesn't apply. ;-)

But most of us don't work for TPTB. None of us fans set up the official Network on Ning.

So why is it that there are SO many posts that say, in one form or another, "Hey, you can't say that here."

Or "You can't talk about politics" (which is only invoked when the opinion expressed is different than the objector's).

Or a few dozen responses to a post about "respect" (without actually defining what respect is).

Or even a cyber circle-jerk regarding some oh-so-offensive individual and their post(s). What's most ironic about that one is that the best way to make "offensive" material go away is to ignore it. Yapping on and on and "standing in agreement" like in church brings MORE attention to what offends you, not less.

My second favorite saying (after "half of talking is knowing when to shut up") is "No one died and put you in charge". Unless you are one of TPTB (and no one besides the moderator of that network is) your opinion doesn't hold a lot of water. Thank your lucky stars that you're allowed to post it, of course, but self-appointed Guardians of All That Is True and Right don't last too long.

If you see something that could be a problem, private message the moderator. I did that myself in the early weeks of the Network, last year. But the bottom line is, the determination of what is "OK" to post belongs to TPTB and no one else.

One of the reasons I left the Network some time ago was because the temptation to waste a bunch of billable hours was too strong and there were too many opportunities to vent like I'm doing here. Once in a while on a private blog, fine. But piddling away several hours at a time when someone is paying me to work for them instead was NOT a good place to be. I still love to read there. Lots of great reviews, lots of great Platinum stories. Especially when you hear additional details from another source and compare them with what's posted. That's just a scream!

So who wants to suggest positive ways to spend time during Barry's break until the Convention? The "I'm a better MMN participant than you" game is getting old and boring.