I guess "list serv" is the nerd-word for the mailing lists that organizations use to keep people updated on their news and events. (Are you still reading? This is funny, I promise.)
I'm part of the Writers' Studio list serv. I can't even remember what it is and I never pay attention to their e-mails. They're boring. I care about them zero.
But last night, the Writers' Studio list serv got crazy.
When I checked my alternate e-mail address, there were 80+ e-mails from the Writers' Studio list serv. All within one hour. Every single one of them was from someone different asking to be taken off the list serv.
This means instead of simply unsubscribing to the list serv on their own, people were e-mailing the entire list serv. All 1,400 members. Imagine if you had a Blackberry and it buzzed every minute with an e-mail from someone you didn't know with the subject line "Unsubscribe." You'd want to chuck it against the bricks. And then set it on fire. So you can imagine that some people got a bit agitated.
I went through a dozen or so of the messages to figure out what was going on. The range of emotions is pretty amazing. Some people got really worked up over it. Below are some of my faves:
"Please stop this."
"I do not believe I belong in this group. I do not choose to participate."
"Remove me from this list serve immediately. It is unbearable."
"For the love of god, please take me off this list also. I don't know how I got on, but get me off of it. Thank you."
"I feel like I'm on a broken elevator hovering between the 99th and 100th with 50 complete fucking strangers."
"HELP! I have no idea how I got on this list. I am just a housewife in Milwaukee. Please take me off of this crazy shit!!!"
"PLEASE TAKE ME OFF OF THIS MORONIC LIST. I AM ONLY A HOUSEWIFE IN MILWAUKEE AND HAVE NO IDEA WHY I AM BEING BOMBARDED WITH THESE EMAILS, HOWEVER, I AM BEYOND ANGRY AT THIS POINT!!!" (Same lady)
"The eerie silence will be a mind-blowing experience."
So the cause of all this was a 100% banal e-mail string between three or four people that accidentally got sent to the entire list serv. Which made people realize what a boring list serv it is. So a bunch of people decided to opt out. And the internet almost exploded.
It must have been way too much drama for the housewife in Milwaukee. She probably had to do four loads of laundry to unwind.
I'm part of the Writers' Studio list serv. I can't even remember what it is and I never pay attention to their e-mails. They're boring. I care about them zero.
But last night, the Writers' Studio list serv got crazy.
When I checked my alternate e-mail address, there were 80+ e-mails from the Writers' Studio list serv. All within one hour. Every single one of them was from someone different asking to be taken off the list serv.
This means instead of simply unsubscribing to the list serv on their own, people were e-mailing the entire list serv. All 1,400 members. Imagine if you had a Blackberry and it buzzed every minute with an e-mail from someone you didn't know with the subject line "Unsubscribe." You'd want to chuck it against the bricks. And then set it on fire. So you can imagine that some people got a bit agitated.
I went through a dozen or so of the messages to figure out what was going on. The range of emotions is pretty amazing. Some people got really worked up over it. Below are some of my faves:
"Please stop this."
"I do not believe I belong in this group. I do not choose to participate."
"Remove me from this list serve immediately. It is unbearable."
"For the love of god, please take me off this list also. I don't know how I got on, but get me off of it. Thank you."
"I feel like I'm on a broken elevator hovering between the 99th and 100th with 50 complete fucking strangers."
"HELP! I have no idea how I got on this list. I am just a housewife in Milwaukee. Please take me off of this crazy shit!!!"
"PLEASE TAKE ME OFF OF THIS MORONIC LIST. I AM ONLY A HOUSEWIFE IN MILWAUKEE AND HAVE NO IDEA WHY I AM BEING BOMBARDED WITH THESE EMAILS, HOWEVER, I AM BEYOND ANGRY AT THIS POINT!!!" (Same lady)
"The eerie silence will be a mind-blowing experience."
So the cause of all this was a 100% banal e-mail string between three or four people that accidentally got sent to the entire list serv. Which made people realize what a boring list serv it is. So a bunch of people decided to opt out. And the internet almost exploded.
It must have been way too much drama for the housewife in Milwaukee. She probably had to do four loads of laundry to unwind.
HAHAHA! I love the internets so much. Especially when it functions properly. But especially when it's broken.
Posted by: Poor Lucky Me | Feb 11, 2009 at 14:41
that exact same thing happened to me. i got all these emails from a beauty salon in sydney i went to once. all these random people were asking to get off the mailing list, that they werent part of the list, that they felt uncomfortable reading an internal office email...the initial email that had been accidently sent out was about a girl who had recently been fired and why she was fired. weird.
Posted by: Jess | Feb 11, 2009 at 20:38
hahahhaa.. that's so funny!! probably not as funny if it happened to me but hilarious bc it didn't :)
Posted by: moe | Feb 12, 2009 at 21:25