Do You Need to be Heard, Or Do You Need an Answer?

One of the things I'm beginning to find pretty frustrating, is the need for people to publicly rant about something that they haven't tried to resolve on their own. From misprints to crappy downloads, it seems like ranting about bad business experiences, politics and other frustrations is the "thing" to do. The trouble is, there's this little link on most websites that offers you the ability to "contact us."

I often have to quash the internet myth that once you post something online —...