Reddit's Head of Community quits

[enso]

You seem to no more than anyone else. What are your sources?

[enso]

B’bye!

[enso]

@Woodchuck45

We’ve provided the tools to supremacists already, and they’re using them. The article from last week about younger racists using Snapchat groups instead of Stormfront proves this out - there’s a bigger issue than just Reddit out there.

Yeah but Reddit bases its business model, one could argue, on hosting these sorts of sites.

[Missy_Pants]

Maybe there were only 4, maybe these were just the high profile Canadians, and maybe you should not get hung up on a single word in a metaphor?

The gender of the people leaving Reddit is noteworthy.
Insisting that its not is really weird, and you haven’t really explained why it isn’t.

[sodiumlights]

@Mausium

We are discussing here about how cultural toxicity plays a part

I’ve just reread the entire thread, and no, no we aren’t. No-one has discussed the toxicity of the company or the culture.

[sodiumlights]

So, what have I learned from this thread? That disagreeing about the relevance of context makes you sexist and that no-one will discuss the validity of your argument, just tell you that you are wrong.

I “see gender”, whatever the fuck it means. I see a lot of the sexism in my industry and in culture. Not all of it, by any stretch I’m sure, but I’m aware of it and I act against it when I can.

But by suggesting that emphasising the gender of people when there is no suggestion that gender is relevant to the conversation, I have been labelled sexist. Fine. If you can’t see the irony in that, then so be it. But if they left because the company was racist or homophobic or corrupt (for example) and the argument is spun as being about gender, then that spin is actively harmful to everything. And we weren’t given that information, just the suggestion that it was about gender, apparently without grounds.

So, yeah, whatever. If you can’t discuss a point, only tell me I’m wrong, I’m done discussing.

[Mausium]

@sodiumlights

So, what have I learned from this thread? That disagreeing about the relevance of context makes you sexist and that no-one will discuss the validity of your argument, just tell you that you are wrong.

Yes, kneejerk “NUH UH” to the general curiosity of whether feminist analysis could prevent a flight of women from a small company for varying reasons does appear “sexist” in a sense, that you reject any possibilities out of hand.

Instead of actually displaying any curiosity, you respond with nonstop vitriol and pseudoskepticism.

@sodiumlights

But if they left because the company was racist or homophobic or corrupt (for example) and the argument is spun as being about gender, then that spin is actively harmful to everything.

If every gay or employee belonging to a racial minority left at the same time, a different narrative could be called into discussion.

If you wanted a sincere discussion on what waits at the wings of what is negatively affecting women in the workplace, you could have gotten one, and it would have probably been interesting, instead of dancing around with “it’s not anti-woman! it can’t be seeing as there are different and unrelated reasons for each!”

We’re talking about perspectives and frameworks here, which are much more important than “calling sexist/racist”.

[Missy_Pants]

Amazing.
Nice to see you comments tho, /high-five!

[Mausium]

I mean, there’s plenty of subjectivity to dance around, but the “how dare you call them/me sexist” attitude is itself toxic. You don’t have to see a pattern, but to attack people for examining for patterns that may certainly exist, that’s unnecessarily hostile and trolly.

If you’re constantly jumping in swinging then finding yourself defending from claims of sexism/homophobia/racism, you have to be intentionally pushing some buttons and need to take responsibility for your rhetoric at some point.

[Missy_Pants]

LOL - its like this is part of the conversation I’m having else where about encoding/decoding messages, misunderstandings and the lowest common denominator being oneself.

Interconnectedness of everything!

[lakelady]

I don’t really know any more other than using reddit, remembering that someone else connected to redditgifts left recently. Simply did a bit of looking and found out it was her husband that left.

If it were not for the fact that her husband had also recently left I would think that her gender was a reasonable topic for questioning the policies of reddit. However as it is I think this was most probably a personal choice rather than related to other possible gender issues within reddit.

[Mausium]

I wish people worried less about what their “true soul” is and harness the shame that keeps them away from empathy for good. As the song goes, “everyone’s a little bit racist…” worry less about the abstract diagnosis and more about how to be more empathetic and deprogram yourself as best you can. And by god, don’t get so offended over thought-experiments like this. People who rant about political correctness are the absolute huffiest.

[anon33466019]

clears throat except, um, how I pointed out that two relevant stories and series of data points may show a bias we techies are uncomfortable with.

But I didn’t use the word toxicity–just like charts and graphs and facts.

[enso]

@lakelady

If it were not for the fact that her husband had also recently left I would think that her gender was a reasonable topic for questioning the policies of reddit. However as it is I think this was most probably a personal choice rather than related to other possible gender issues within reddit.

I’d suggest embracing the power of “and” here. Sure, her husband’s leaving and women seem to be quitting high profile positions in Reddit. Maybe she looked at the writing on the wall and said “Fuck this place.”

[enso]

@sodiumlights

So, yeah, whatever. If you can’t discuss a point, only tell me I’m wrong, I’m done discussing.

[pfooti]

This is the part I don’t understand. Rather, I don’t understand why people don’t understand this. Reddit management is okay with coontown. People are allowed to say racist stupid shit for some reason, fine. Do it in public if you want, and make a webserver if you want. I’m opposed to ISPs or governments blocking websites more or less on a freedom of speech basis (but I’m willing to hear arguments that would include nuking all of those sites from orbit because I’m pretty sure there’s an ethical evaluativist stance that doesn’t include total, anything-goes relativism - we should be able to decide at a more fine-grained level, I think, but maybe not: see also any kind of civil rights argument ten years before the argument is won).

But if your business model includes community content, you need to say, “this is allowable and that isn’t”. It’s perfectly reasonable to say, “this is my site and freedom of speech doesn’t apply here, you cannot spew racist hatred on my site”. What’s objectionable is to say, “go ahead, no worries.”

Also: four high-profile female departures from Reddit in the past month or so is news, even if they’re not related. Because they’re probably related. Hey, if you want to defend a site that hosts steaming pits of racist garbage where there is real uproar when people get banned for posting revenge porn and upskirt photos, go ahead.

[OtherMichael]

@Missy_Pants

So if all the Canadians suddenly left a large company

I’d be very sad that “poutine-Fridays” were no longer a thing, eh?

@Missy_Pants

The gender of the people leaving Reddit is noteworthy.

Why do you keep harping on people leaving Reddit? Are we ignoring all the people who left other companies, now? Aren’t they important, too?

@japhroaig

just like charts and graphs and facts.

Mathism is, all by itself, is toxic! You’re not one of those wacky nuts who believe in “set theory”, are you?

[OtherMichael]

Reddit's Head of Community quits

As much as Reddit needs to change its community management strategy I do really hate this narrative. The four women who left the company left for very different reasons. Victoria Taylor was fired. Ellen Pao and Bethanye Blount resigned after the (entirely appropriate) backlash after Taylor was fired. And now this person seems to be resigning because her husband also resigned and they want to start a new business. A perfectly common occurrence in the tech industry. Four women left the compa…

Reddit's Head of Community quits

##Fish rot from the head. – Ancient Proverb via Glassdoor. Cons Working for a dictator Making sweeping changes without any notice ZERO job security Being constantly worried about unforeseen “random” lay offs. Management There is a lot of politics Management is opaque & secretive. They will suddenly change directions every so often. Also, they are fond of stealthy layoffs. One day, your teammate will just disappear with little to no explanation and your project in limbo. Instability …

Reddit's Head of Community quits

I think (but don’t know) the reason for concern is tied to recent transparency reports that show the percentage of women in tech roles declining. [image] And in an industry that generally likes to cast itself as a meritocracy, the positioning of these two stories may be evidence of a dark truth us techies don’t want to talk about.

[Missy_Pants]

… I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not… O_o
and I’m desperately curious about what the deleted comment said before you deleted it!

[OtherMichael]

I merged it with the comment above; too many small comments. the BBS was yelling at me.

YELLING!

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Also, I’m never sarcastic or joking. Totes serious, 4 REALZ.