I'm resigning from my job at Facebook • Hacker News Board

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#251

Post by Thaxll » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 3:01 PM UTC

swagonomixxx wrote: post #150

ogre_codes wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that simple or easy. Many of these guys are giving up tends of thousands of dollars in benefits (stock options/ bonuses). Also, the assumption that everyone with a good paying job at Facebook is going to be able to quickly pick up a comparable job in a short amount of time is a huge stretch. Ultimately developers leaving and people refusing to work for Facebook, drive up Facebook's costs and speaks to their…

It's not really a huge stretch, his post on LinkedIn [0] has 200K+ reactions, and it's an understatement to say he'll have no trouble _at all_ getting a job within a few weeks. [0]: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/timothy-j-aveni_blacklivesmat...

I woudn't be so sure, not at FANG anyway. Those public stunts are no go for most big compagnies.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#252

Post by johannes1234321 » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 3:01 PM UTC

mchusma wrote: post #49

I don't understand why doesn't Facebook just: -Allow all posts -Allow users to customize what they want to see (e.g. "dont show me posts that glorify violence" or "only allow covid posts that match WHO guidelines" or "allow exceptions from political figures or of historical significance") and allow users to ban hide posts that are found untruthful by third parties (snopes, etc). To me effectively everyone wins. Faceb…

> -Allow users to customize what they want to see

This means that Facebook has to provide a process to categorize posts into the categories. Facebook argues they don't want to do that categorization.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#253

Post by BitwiseFool » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 3:01 PM UTC

kiplkipl wrote: post #121

12xo wrote: post #39

Social media is fast food. If you eat it all the time it makes you feel awful and will destroy your mental and physical health. But its cheap, easy to get and tastes really good... So stupid people love it.

You're on social media

While true, I feel like HN is a different variety of Social Media than Facebook. You're not going to see vacation photos, screenshots of tweets, and memes everywhere. It's a forum yes, but it's very different from places like Facebook and Reddit.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#254

Post by misiti3780 » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 3:01 PM UTC

misiti3780 wrote: post #33

Can someone paste the text for those of us that have blocked all facebook subdomains?

thanks.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#255

Post by bparsons » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 3:02 PM UTC

blickentwapft wrote: post #14

ordinaryradical wrote: post #8

He’s standing up for what he believes. You can disagree with his convictions, but you should admire anyone who risks personal and financial consequences for sticking to their guns. That’s what actual morality is—not just a “belief” that is talked about but acted upon even when the results will be costly.

It’s a highly privileged position to be in to make a personal stand and leave your $250,000 job for another $250,000 job. Not judging this way or that, just saying.

Leaving your job in the middle of an recession/depression is scary for anyone.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#256

Post by jordanpg » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 3:02 PM UTC

blickentwapft wrote: post #14

ordinaryradical wrote: post #8

He’s standing up for what he believes. You can disagree with his convictions, but you should admire anyone who risks personal and financial consequences for sticking to their guns. That’s what actual morality is—not just a “belief” that is talked about but acted upon even when the results will be costly.

It’s a highly privileged position to be in to make a personal stand and leave your $250,000 job for another $250,000 job. Not judging this way or that, just saying.

Reading this most charitably, the implication seems to be that his action _isn't enough_.

That he should also devote his efforts full time to combating the problems he speaks about for less compensation, or donate the excess compensation to related causes, otherwise the action is unworthy.

These are restatements of classic utilitarian dilemmas, as stated by, among many others, Peter Singer[0].

"In a society in which the narrow pursuit of material self-interest is the norm, the shift to an ethical stance is more radical than many people realize."

[0] https://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/199704--.htm

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#257

Post by MiroF » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 3:02 PM UTC

samizdis wrote: post #171

MiroF wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well ... it might just come a little sooner than that ;-) Why would it come sooner? You think they would fire him a week early just so he can claim unemployment from them?

No, not fire him - he's just resigned - I mean put him on "gardening leave" from now until his official last day.

Oh yeah, absolutely.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#258

Post by cestith » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 3:03 PM UTC

macspoofing wrote: post #117

I respect the moral stance he took, though that this is a public open letter is a little self-serving (but even with that quitting a well-paying job in the midst of a pandemic and a huge recession is not easy). I disagree wholeheartedly with his position that Facebook should be wading into politics and interpreting Trump's tweets and posts because with Trump (and even politics in general) everything is in the eye of…

It may be self-serving but it may also be targeted to other Facebook employees and recruits or to the general FB-using public to let folks know how dire and complete their complicity with things is.

As someone who is repeatedly contacted by FAANG recruiters, I can tell you there are two of them I keep asking hard questions about company culture and role in society. They stop responding, then a different recruiter reaches out a few months later. I imagine you can guess which two.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#259

Post by blaufast » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 3:03 PM UTC

ikeyany wrote: post #41

blaufast wrote: post #22

It’s about time this started happening! Facebook employees of HN, how about joining him?

Possibly worried about the money and status bump from having Facebook on their resume. But having on your resume that you left Facebook because of this would be the biggest status bump of all.

Agreed. If Tech cares about the diversity as much as it claims, it’s hard to think this would damage ones career.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#260

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 04, 2020, 3:04 PM UTC

blickentwapft wrote: post #14

ordinaryradical wrote: post #8

He’s standing up for what he believes. You can disagree with his convictions, but you should admire anyone who risks personal and financial consequences for sticking to their guns. That’s what actual morality is—not just a “belief” that is talked about but acted upon even when the results will be costly.

It’s a highly privileged position to be in to make a personal stand and leave your $250,000 job for another $250,000 job. Not judging this way or that, just saying.

[deleted]