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Stop using app icons for political activism

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Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#151

The author didn’t bother to state which political statements they were upset about; neither did they bother to say something like “all of them,” which would have been trivial. So we are left to guess which political activism they find annoying. Given the timing, there’s a very good chance that it’s related to Pride month here in the US. It seems even more probable when you consider the context: very few companies cha…

It could also be Ukraine. There have been a lot of blue and yellow logos lately.

That's also what I thought.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#152
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If it's my app Not picking on you specifically, because this attitude is extremely common among software developers these days, but I think this mentality of treating software running on users' machines as "yours" rather than "theirs" is at the core of a lot of problems with the modern software industry. Software should serve the interests of its users, not its developers. The advent of ubiquitous internet connecti…

> Software should serve the interests of its users, not its developers. The history of “rainbow washing” in corporate marketing material served the original purpose of saying “you’re welcome here”. There are many stores/places that choose to not serve queer people. Publicly sharing that you will allow queer people to use your product is serving the interest of those users, but perhaps not the interest of every user.…

I'm pretty sure we are past the point where LGBT people need to be worried about whether a major bank will serve them or not. And yet the rainbow washing continues. Why is that?

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#153

The author didn’t bother to state which political statements they were upset about; neither did they bother to say something like “all of them,” which would have been trivial. So we are left to guess which political activism they find annoying. Given the timing, there’s a very good chance that it’s related to Pride month here in the US. It seems even more probable when you consider the context: very few companies cha…

>I would invite everyone to remember this the next time someone wants a “politics-free” workspace. Specifically, remember that a vague assertion that LGBTQ people exist (a rainbow, on a logo), is what some folks consider “political.”

There are many things that "just exist", but one subset of them receives massive media attention, mandatory acknowledgments, and is shielded from a lot of criticism, while another subset is constantly being ridiculed, mocked and villified.

Pride month would be fair if we also had, let's say, Fathers' month, emphasizing the importance of teaching your boys self-reliance, emotional control, delayed gratification. Or housewives' month, praising women that sacrifice careers and spend countless time teaching their kids important skills that will help them achieve independence and success in life.

But no, the media has decided that all these things are not important, but one's sexual orientation, a very private thing that makes many people uncomfortable and has zero relation with actual business, needs to be broadcasted on every corner.

So the whole idea of a politics-free workspace is that we keep these things to our private lives. We don't argue which subcategory deserves a month of acknowledgement, and who can get by with half-a-Friday, we instead focus on actual work. Like have a month of refactoring, or a month of unit tests. Because, you know, having common goals brings people together. And giving one subset of people different rights from another one (even if it's non-monetary tokenism) makes a workplace toxic and increases tension.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#154
post #2

How about no? If it's my app, I'll use my logo. I consider the logo an integral part of the application's identity and I should control its identity. I promise I'll do my best to make it easily and readily recognizable, regardless of it using national colors, a rainbow or shades of white, pink and blue. If you don't like it, it's your problem, not mine.

You're free to modify the logo on your corporate office, but the app logo is part of the license deal or purchase. On the home screen, it's not exclusively yours anymore, specifically, when it comes to posting message via this logo that are not covered by that license.

(We may think of exceptions where an app is specifically about posting such messages, like an iconographic motd, but this is not what's here addressed.)

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could also be Ukraine. There have been a lot of blue and yellow logos lately.

This is definitely true. I considered that it could be Ukraine, but ultimately it seemed less likely. Most of the Ukraine-related logo changes I personally saw were done earlier on in the war, and most of what I see right now is Pride-related. I probably could have mentioned this possibility in the comment, as well. That said, the author didn’t tell us; so we’re left to guess.

> That said, the author didn’t tell us; so we’re left to guess.

We don't need to guess. The post was agnostic to the political cause.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#156

The author didn’t bother to state which political statements they were upset about; neither did they bother to say something like “all of them,” which would have been trivial. So we are left to guess which political activism they find annoying. Given the timing, there’s a very good chance that it’s related to Pride month here in the US. It seems even more probable when you consider the context: very few companies cha…

>I would invite everyone to remember this the next time someone wants a “politics-free” workspace. Specifically, remember that a vague assertion that LGBTQ people exist (a rainbow, on a logo), is what some folks consider “political.” There are many things that "just exist", but one subset of them receives massive media attention, mandatory acknowledgments, and is shielded from a lot of criticism, while another subset…

Hmm, I don't think any governments are actively legislating to make it illegal to be (or acknowledge the existence of) fathers or housewives.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Software should serve the interests of its users, not its developers. The history of “rainbow washing” in corporate marketing material served the original purpose of saying “you’re welcome here”. There are many stores/places that choose to not serve queer people. Publicly sharing that you will allow queer people to use your product is serving the interest of those users, but perhaps not the interest of every user.…

I'm pretty sure we are past the point where LGBT people need to be worried about whether a major bank will serve them or not. And yet the rainbow washing continues. Why is that?

Interesting you mention banks.

> A 2019 study by Hua Sun and Lei Gao of Iowa State University found that from 1990 to 2015, same-sex couples were 73% more likely to be turned down for a mortgage than similarly qualified different-sex couples. In addition, same-sex couples who were approved for mortgages paid about 0.02% to 0.2% more, on average, in interest and fees.

https://www.investopedia.com/mortgage-lending-for-lgbtq-peop...

The US government has made positive changes to combat this practice,

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt-banks/u-s-banks-...

but you would be mistaken to assume such discrimination has completely disappeared or doesn't still exist in similar forms.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#158

I'm always confused by statements like these. You can see similar dynamics playing out on artists' social media feeds for example, where people are upset when the artist talks about politics instead of their craft. Artists, developers, and everyone else is at the end of the day still a human being, not a machine that's there only to produce the content you want to consume. Getting a useful app for free (!) and then g…

Just because a person has political views doesn’t mean they need to push them out to every medium possible.

When I’m at work I expect people to mostly talk about work, not divide the office by broadcasting controversial political views via their avatar and posting hot takes in their status messages.

With developers I expect the apps to solve some problem I have. That’s it. I know a person, or team of people, wrote it but their politics are completely irrelevant to their ability to solve my problem via and app. I also don’t need to know about their family, hobbies, religion, or dreams.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Software should serve the interests of its users, not its developers. The history of “rainbow washing” in corporate marketing material served the original purpose of saying “you’re welcome here”. There are many stores/places that choose to not serve queer people. Publicly sharing that you will allow queer people to use your product is serving the interest of those users, but perhaps not the interest of every user.…

I'm pretty sure we are past the point where LGBT people need to be worried about whether a major bank will serve them or not. And yet the rainbow washing continues. Why is that?

People still think a rainbow is political. And look at all the political stunts GOP is pulling at LGBT peoples expense.

Also, we aren’t past that point.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#160
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I thought it was pretty clear that the author objected to it on principle. It isn’t clear whatsoever. It would have been trivial to mention the other, far more common reasons why app icons change and make a fairly politically-neutral argument. However, they did not choose to do so. In fact, they never even go so far as to say “and these political statements hinder my ability to recognize things visually.” But polit…

Why do you assume malice?

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