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Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

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Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#151

Post by dvtrn »

bradlys wrote: post #141
esperent wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not bringing in a new CEO. All people are asking for is _one_ outsider voice on the board.

> All people are asking for is _one_ outsider voice on the board. I'm curious what people think the end result of such a thing would be. Does having an outside voice actually contribute to better outcomes for the company? Is there a reason people couldn't just advocate for the current board to listen to other people in their time rather than having a dedicated "outside voice" position? I've seen outsiders come into c…

You know what? You’re right. Let’s call this what it is: pure virtue signaling.

Now that that’s done, what’s next? How can we boost the signal? I like this particular virtue. I think it’s worthy and achievable and more people should be able to tune into it.

Admittedly I’m biased as a person with a few differently complexities of melanin in my skin, that has been treated like an outsider in so many different ways, but hell if were signaling virtues let’s be upfront and own this shit and do some good with it.

What’s to lose? The integrity of Reddit because they put a black man at the helm? Eh. Worth a shot in my opinion.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#152

Post by Hackerlite »

jstgord wrote: post #87

Dear Reddit, for the love of Mike .. PLEASE treat reddit as a web-first platform. You are killing the golden goose by trying to force people toward the app - by gradually removing features and usability from the mobile web site and constantly reminding people they "should" use the app. I don't want reddit as an 'app', I want reddit to be readable/scrollable on mobile and web without any form of coercion.

In all fairness, at this point they’re using data to guide their decisions on official platform support and features. But agreed that the mobile web experience and native app experience should be closer tied, and users shouldn’t be pushed so aggressively to the app. I can only imagine the amount of work it would take to refactor that codebase...

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#153

Post by pvg »

bradlys wrote: post #141
esperent wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not bringing in a new CEO. All people are asking for is _one_ outsider voice on the board.

> All people are asking for is _one_ outsider voice on the board. I'm curious what people think the end result of such a thing would be. Does having an outside voice actually contribute to better outcomes for the company? Is there a reason people couldn't just advocate for the current board to listen to other people in their time rather than having a dedicated "outside voice" position? I've seen outsiders come into c…

Does having an outside voice actually contribute to better outcomes for the company?

US corporations seem to think so - zillions of businesses have outside directors, it's an established practice.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#154

Post by screye »

zobzu wrote: post #128
Digory wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. It’s a bet. Heads, it works. Tails, Condé Nast becomes known for litigation against the Trump DOJ, fighting against systemic racism. For the lawyers, it beats mopping up Bon Appetit’s editor in brownface.

So requiring to pay for a position only for a specific skin color is not actual systemic racism, as long as color is not white, because white people are racists and this fights against that, or am I completely missing the mark? I'm sure people here are also well versed in silicon valley HR hiring practices regarding skin color based quotas.

I think OP's point has to do with the perceived value of their moral signaling vs the actual morals themselves.

It is a win-win for Reddit in terms of perception, whether they have to fight a case because of it or not. If anything, this would be an 'any publicity is good publicity' situation.

Now if it is actually inline with a truly moral stance...who cares. In this system there are only 3 morals. Money, money and more money.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#155

Post by AndrewKemendo »

jstgord wrote: post #87

Dear Reddit, for the love of Mike .. PLEASE treat reddit as a web-first platform. You are killing the golden goose by trying to force people toward the app - by gradually removing features and usability from the mobile web site and constantly reminding people they "should" use the app. I don't want reddit as an 'app', I want reddit to be readable/scrollable on mobile and web without any form of coercion.

I'm not a reddit fanboy anymore (I was a decade ago) and there are a few annoying pop-ups/dark patterns here and there, but reddit.com in firefox on iPhone 11 works seamlessly for me - logged in and not.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#156

Post by paulcole »

saagarjha wrote: post #131
paulcole wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re using Reddit on iOS or iPadOS and you’re not using Apollo, you’re doing yourself a disservice. https://apolloapp.io/ As an added bonus if you subscribe to the subreddit, /r/ApolloApp it’s like /r/ChoosingBeggarsLite with the complaints and feature requests for a free app.

I prefer Beam to Apollo, to be honest, even though it's largely unmaintained. I think the UI is much nicer. > As an added bonus if you subscribe to the subreddit, /r/ApolloApp it’s like /r/ChoosingBeggarsLite with the complaints and feature requests for a free app. Apollo isn't really free, is it? And I don't see what's wrong with asking for things for an app in the subreddit which seems designed for exactly that?

There’s asking for something and then there’s being a Choosing Beggar(tm).

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#157

Post by buzzkillington »

krelian wrote: post #147
jstgord wrote: post #87

Dear Reddit, for the love of Mike .. PLEASE treat reddit as a web-first platform. You are killing the golden goose by trying to force people toward the app - by gradually removing features and usability from the mobile web site and constantly reminding people they "should" use the app. I don't want reddit as an 'app', I want reddit to be readable/scrollable on mobile and web without any form of coercion.

>You are killing the golden goose by trying to force people toward the app I think this is the the type of requests that shows the disconnect between the HN crowd and real users. The majority of users will use the app. It's entirely in reddit's benefit to push the app, that's where they have complete control and can add more tracking and ads without the hindrance of ad/tracking blockers. old.reddit.com is all I use b…

>The majority of users will use the app.

In the same way that the majority of users use pintrest. Until you train them to close the site out of reflex.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#158

Post by digitaltrees »

cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #89
digitaltrees wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone that remotely thinks that is an idiot. Michael is a fucking force of nature and one of the most impressive people you will ever meet. Seriously, if that thought ever comes up in your presence attack it head on because the person expressing it needs a big fucking gut check. Honestly, even you saying this is BS.

>Honestly, even you saying this is BS. "I want my replacement to be a black person" -> black person is hired -> "were they hired because of their race?" You: How dare you even imply they were hired based on their race! If anyone is bullshitting anyone here, it's you bullshitting yourself. The sheer mental gymnastics you're working through here to be outraged at the above must take a terrible toll. This is to say noth…

Except that no one says white people that hire friends--most of which are white friends from their childhood and school background--are racially motivated and yet the impact is white people hire more white people. This implicit bias might not be intended to be harmful, but it is racially informed.

If we, as a society say we need to make a conscious effort to have more decision makers from a variety of backgrounds so that this human tendency to hire friends and people we know can actually result in a broader group of people being able to access opportunity.

I still say allowing people to be passive aggressive and "ask the question" about whether someone is qualified because there was a effort to be inclusive is a way to undermine the credibility of the candidate and this effort doesn't seem to ever be directed at white people. You ever hear someone question another executive for hiring a college frat brother? or someone that worked at the same investment bank? Hiring preferences exist.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#159

Post by buzzkillington »

austincheney wrote: post #21
arshbot wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't the threat of change be going in the opposite direction?

That being said please make Reddit more like HN. I deleted my Reddit account years ago. In the cases where it wasn’t a doomed echo chamber vortex it was stupid framework trend of the moment, which isn’t interesting when your primary concerns are technology and programming.

HN is literally a reddit clone.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#160

Post by LyndsySimon »

screye wrote: post #154
zobzu wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So requiring to pay for a position only for a specific skin color is not actual systemic racism, as long as color is not white, because white people are racists and this fights against that, or am I completely missing the mark? I'm sure people here are also well versed in silicon valley HR hiring practices regarding skin color based quotas.

I think OP's point has to do with the perceived value of their moral signaling vs the actual morals themselves. It is a win-win for Reddit in terms of perception, whether they have to fight a case because of it or not. If anything, this would be an 'any publicity is good publicity' situation. Now if it is actually inline with a truly moral stance...who cares. In this system there are only 3 morals. Money, money and m…

I was explicitly not taking a position on the action itself. I’m honestly interested to see how this might open a company to litigation.
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