Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired • Hacker News Board

Re: Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired

#41

Post by concordDance » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 7:04 PM UTC

zamalek wrote: post #14

spaced-out wrote: post #3

>My colleague, whom I liked a lot, was never going to get it done in time without help, so we all pitched in. I actually quite enjoyed it. I wasn’t really thinking about whether those changes were good for Twitter; I just really liked being part of that community, working together on a deadline. I even slept on a sofa in the office on Saturday night. It's not cool to paint pressuring employees to work long hours as a…

It's not only that it's "not cool," but the outcomes of long hours don't match the expectations. The concept of "more person-hours in, more productivity out" heralds from the days of Ford, and strictly applies to individuals performing rote jobs on a factory floor (to a certain degree): tightening bolt after bolt, painting the car hoods as they roll by, nailing two pieces of wood together, etc. Human biology is adept…

> At least a portion of his behavior could be attributed to having completely diminished his mental faculties due to overworking himself.

This feels like a really under appreciated point. If you overwork yourself for 10 years it's going to have nasty effects on you.

Re: Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired

#42

Post by retskrad » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 7:04 PM UTC

It's fascinating how Elon Musk supporters on Twitter cheered, almost like a sports team, when the Twitter employees got fired in such inhumane ways by Elon Musk. Don't his supporters realize that Elon would do the same thing to them if they worked at Twitter? The stereotype about conservatives ring true - they don't care about others until it affects them personally.

Re: Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired

#43

Post by mertd » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 7:05 PM UTC

cuttysnark wrote: post #34

smoldesu wrote: post #8

The "hacking" hook is simply that their Macbook went into MDM lockdown mode. That's completely normal for companies at-scale, and I can understand why they'd want to lock the devices before laying people off. If the opposite had happened, they'd be writing an article about how Twitter failed to protect their files and angle it as a "they're running out of staff" article. I still don't really understand what there is…

> don't really understand what there is worth talking about here. Elon Musk, previously adored by many for futurist technology advocacy and largely forgiven for quirky-billionaire-behavior is now on the "bad guy list". This is "public opinion", from my perspective. It is now common to hear people saying: "He didn't really build that" "His family had money" "His family had a mine" "He's a fascist" "He's a racist becau…

“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

This is almost a truism. When someone reaches an extreme position, they can never be ordinary again and they will be judged by absolute terms.

Re: Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired

#44

Post by VHRanger » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 7:05 PM UTC

cuttysnark wrote: post #34

smoldesu wrote: post #8

The "hacking" hook is simply that their Macbook went into MDM lockdown mode. That's completely normal for companies at-scale, and I can understand why they'd want to lock the devices before laying people off. If the opposite had happened, they'd be writing an article about how Twitter failed to protect their files and angle it as a "they're running out of staff" article. I still don't really understand what there is…

> don't really understand what there is worth talking about here. Elon Musk, previously adored by many for futurist technology advocacy and largely forgiven for quirky-billionaire-behavior is now on the "bad guy list". This is "public opinion", from my perspective. It is now common to hear people saying: "He didn't really build that" "His family had money" "His family had a mine" "He's a fascist" "He's a racist becau…

Nonsense.

Presumably any private equity firm would also have came to a conclusion of reducing headcount.

They wouldn't have done so in a single week based on ridiculous analysis. And wouldn't have done so in a way to destroy the morale of remaining workforce.

Re: Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired

#45

Post by sokoloff » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 7:05 PM UTC

ketralnis wrote: post #11

spaced-out wrote: post #3

>My colleague, whom I liked a lot, was never going to get it done in time without help, so we all pitched in. I actually quite enjoyed it. I wasn’t really thinking about whether those changes were good for Twitter; I just really liked being part of that community, working together on a deadline. I even slept on a sofa in the office on Saturday night. It's not cool to paint pressuring employees to work long hours as a…

It's kind of a weird situation. As told, this person enjoyed what they were doing and hanging out with their friends, and that happened to be on a project that benefited their employer. This sounds like it's not your problem. Except you're troubled by it because you're competing with them. You don't have fun hanging out late at work and living on Mountain Dew and Cheetos but you're competing for the same salaries and…

This makes about as much sense as being upset that some people eat healthy and work out and as a result are more physically attractive/competitive in the same dating market that you're in. Or that some people study and hone their professional craft sometimes before 8:59 AM or after 5:01 PM.

Make your choices and let others make their choices. Not everyone wants to optimize for the same things in life.

Re: Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired

#46

Post by kdmccormick » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 7:05 PM UTC

ketralnis wrote: post #11

spaced-out wrote: post #3

>My colleague, whom I liked a lot, was never going to get it done in time without help, so we all pitched in. I actually quite enjoyed it. I wasn’t really thinking about whether those changes were good for Twitter; I just really liked being part of that community, working together on a deadline. I even slept on a sofa in the office on Saturday night. It's not cool to paint pressuring employees to work long hours as a…

It's kind of a weird situation. As told, this person enjoyed what they were doing and hanging out with their friends, and that happened to be on a project that benefited their employer. This sounds like it's not your problem. Except you're troubled by it because you're competing with them. You don't have fun hanging out late at work and living on Mountain Dew and Cheetos but you're competing for the same salaries and…

I appreciate that you represent both sides of argument here, but I've found a way to frame it for myself that removes all the dissonance:

You work for a large, for-profit company. You have some free time outside of the typical 9-5 M-F work week and you would like to spend some of it working. Great! You could:

* contribute to an an open source project or start your own

* start a side project/business

* volunteer somewhere

* take an online course

* exercise

* goof off

* do almost anything else

The effects of these on on society and yourself range from neutral at worst to helpful at best.

Instead, you choose to:

* contribute extra unpaid time to your employer

This may enrich your life, but it definitely enriches the shareholders of your company. It dials up the expectations of others who are in the same employment pool as you. It hurts future generations of workers by eroding the expectation of work-life balance that we are lucky enough to have achieved in our industry.

To me, it is pretty clear: if you put your extra time into for-profit work, you suck.

Re: Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired

#47

Post by smoldesu » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 7:05 PM UTC

cuttysnark wrote: post #34

smoldesu wrote: post #8

The "hacking" hook is simply that their Macbook went into MDM lockdown mode. That's completely normal for companies at-scale, and I can understand why they'd want to lock the devices before laying people off. If the opposite had happened, they'd be writing an article about how Twitter failed to protect their files and angle it as a "they're running out of staff" article. I still don't really understand what there is…

> don't really understand what there is worth talking about here. Elon Musk, previously adored by many for futurist technology advocacy and largely forgiven for quirky-billionaire-behavior is now on the "bad guy list". This is "public opinion", from my perspective. It is now common to hear people saying: "He didn't really build that" "His family had money" "His family had a mine" "He's a fascist" "He's a racist becau…

It does seem to be the case, I'm just not sure what's worth reading into here. Billionaires do stupid and terrible things constantly, if any of these passionate sideliners actually cared about that stuff then they'd be out for Larry Ellison's head for buying Lanai, or asking Steve Jobs about his $40 million jet.

Re: Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired

#48

Post by hungryforcodes » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 7:06 PM UTC

cuttysnark wrote: post #34

smoldesu wrote: post #8

The "hacking" hook is simply that their Macbook went into MDM lockdown mode. That's completely normal for companies at-scale, and I can understand why they'd want to lock the devices before laying people off. If the opposite had happened, they'd be writing an article about how Twitter failed to protect their files and angle it as a "they're running out of staff" article. I still don't really understand what there is…

> don't really understand what there is worth talking about here. Elon Musk, previously adored by many for futurist technology advocacy and largely forgiven for quirky-billionaire-behavior is now on the "bad guy list". This is "public opinion", from my perspective. It is now common to hear people saying: "He didn't really build that" "His family had money" "His family had a mine" "He's a fascist" "He's a racist becau…

Though he is heading on the path of Dr Evil, let's just admit it.

Re: Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired

#49

Post by izzydata » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 7:06 PM UTC

cuttysnark wrote: post #34

smoldesu wrote: post #8

The "hacking" hook is simply that their Macbook went into MDM lockdown mode. That's completely normal for companies at-scale, and I can understand why they'd want to lock the devices before laying people off. If the opposite had happened, they'd be writing an article about how Twitter failed to protect their files and angle it as a "they're running out of staff" article. I still don't really understand what there is…

> don't really understand what there is worth talking about here. Elon Musk, previously adored by many for futurist technology advocacy and largely forgiven for quirky-billionaire-behavior is now on the "bad guy list". This is "public opinion", from my perspective. It is now common to hear people saying: "He didn't really build that" "His family had money" "His family had a mine" "He's a fascist" "He's a racist becau…

The only really important aspect here is that he is a bad business man and Tesla and SpaceX had to manage Elon rather than then the other way around in order to be successful.

Re: Twitter engineer: I thought I’d been hacked. It turned out I’d been fired

#50

Post by smoldesu » Fri, Dec 02, 2022, 7:06 PM UTC

VHRanger wrote: post #44

cuttysnark wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> don't really understand what there is worth talking about here. Elon Musk, previously adored by many for futurist technology advocacy and largely forgiven for quirky-billionaire-behavior is now on the "bad guy list". This is "public opinion", from my perspective. It is now common to hear people saying: "He didn't really build that" "His family had money" "His family had a mine" "He's a fascist" "He's a racist becau…

Nonsense. Presumably any private equity firm would also have came to a conclusion of reducing headcount. They wouldn't have done so in a single week based on ridiculous analysis. And wouldn't have done so in a way to destroy the morale of remaining workforce.

I mean, the running joke in the industry was that you could fire 90% of Twitter's workforce and the company would still run fine. Judging by how few features they've shipped in the past few years, I'm still convinced that's the case.