Be careful about what you say on the internet, even on a private message.
Cleveland’s “Communicator of the Year,” Kelly Blazek, learned this lesson the hard way after sending a not-so-polite email to a 26-year-old looking to make a few connections in the area.
BBC reports that Diana Mekota, the 26-year-old, sent Blazek an email on LinkedIn hoping to join her extensive network connections. Instead of a polite denial, or no response at all, Mekota received a nasty response.
“Your invite to connect is inappropriate, beneficial only to you, and tacky,” Blazek wrote. “I love the sense of entitlement in your generation. And therefore I enjoy Denying your invite.”
According to CNN, the message went viral, and the following backlash has caused Blazek to apologize.
“The note I sent to Diana was rude, unwelcoming, unprofessional and wrong,” Blazek said.
Mekota confirmed via Twitter that she has received an apology.
#CLE is amazing, thank you all! Would like to let you know Kelly Blazek has sent a very nice apology email, for which I thank her.
— Diana Mekota (@PettieBettie) February 25, 2014
Since the incident, Blazek has deleted her Twitter account and cleared everything off of her blg, kellyblazek.wordpress.com.