Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

np.reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 320 posts

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#161

Post by taurenk »

api wrote: post #80
TheOsiris wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is not how I read it at all. This seems very vindictive to me. The employee's comment was not as bad as the response from the CEO. He was just guessing as to why he was laid off. For the CEO to jump in and respond himself shows a very thin skin. Also, the tone of the response is a little too angry. This could've have been handled by the employee's direct manager, not the CEO.

IMHO you and the parent post are both right: this is all around bad behavior by all parties involved. I was let go once. I've told the story, but I have never mentioned the name of the company and I won't tell you if asked. I also had a horrible experience with a co-founder in my first startup to the point that I consider the guy a con man, but likewise I will only tell the story with all names and identifying detail…

I came started reading this thread with the thought that the CEO was in the right. After reading many of the comments, I have to believe that both were in the wrong and this is the right way to go.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#162

Post by TeMPOraL »

nilkn wrote: post #157
TeMPOraL wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True in theory, but in practice, even HN is full of comments like "Google is evil because [link to a random unfounded speculation/whining of ex-Googler]" and people believe them uncritically .

And why should we believe the CEO? I don't trust either of them. At all. What I do know, though, is that one of them wrote a comment which is tremendously meaner than those of the other person.

Because the CEO just exposed himself for a serious lawsuit if even an iota of this statement is not true, not to mention a media shitstorm and total loss of faith of his subordinates. This is strong evidence in favour of believing him over the other guy.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#163

Post by peterwwillis »

irremediable wrote: post #87
dreamweapon wrote: post #10

Sounds like a toxic environment. Whatever the employee may have done to deserve separation, it is profoundly weird and troubling (and also, implicitly threatening to all employees, whatever their rank or standing) to see a CEO discuss those reasons in public.

I don't know. When the employee publicly disparages the business, I feel like a swift and decisive rebuttal might be a good idea. I'm not saying I definitely disagree with you, but I can't really see why what reddit's CEO did was bad. Risky, sure, but it strikes me as a justified and effective response.

Any time someone 'attacks' you in public, the wisest move is either to say nothing, or address it, depending on what the probability is that action or inaction will incur a good (or the best) outcome.

In this case, they probably did not need to respond, since the 'attack' was merely an insinuation that disagreeing with management led to termination, which isn't the strangest idea in the world, nor defamatory. But if they did have to respond, this is one of the worst possible ways to do it: negatively, by senior management, in public, on a forum, discussing personal private details about an ex-employee. If there is a textbook somewhere on "How to deal with employee firing", this is the example of what not to do.

The proper response is to address the main point in contention without emotion or judgment and point out the business's policies and values. Short, sweet and impartial.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#164

Post by szierk »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #148
TeMPOraL wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True in theory, but in practice, even HN is full of comments like "Google is evil because [link to a random unfounded speculation/whining of ex-Googler]" and people believe them uncritically .

All the CEO's response accomplishes for me is prove the accusation that was out there. The ex-employee implied management doesn't like criticism. Management then completely overreacts to criticism.

It's not the criticism; it's the fact that an ex-employee is lying through his teeth about the company.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#165

Post by pgrote »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #148
TeMPOraL wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True in theory, but in practice, even HN is full of comments like "Google is evil because [link to a random unfounded speculation/whining of ex-Googler]" and people believe them uncritically .

All the CEO's response accomplishes for me is prove the accusation that was out there. The ex-employee implied management doesn't like criticism. Management then completely overreacts to criticism.

You are spot on. Perhaps a better way to have handled was to private message the guy with the reasons, update the thread that the private message was sent with the reasons and then let the guy divulge anything.

Not only was it an overreaction, but it really has the stank of pettiness attached to it.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#166

Post by throwawayornot »

"yishan 27 points 15 minutes ago Hiya. It was a harsh response, I agree (there's actually more, but we're pulling our punches, if you can believe it), and in fact all day yesterday I didn't want to post a reply, hoping his AMA wouldn't get too much traction or he wouldn't spout too many misconceptions and we could all just continue going our separate ways. Problem is, this was starting to really irritate a number of employees who'd worked with him, and he's the kind of guy who enjoys the attention he can get by saying "I used to be a reddit admin" even though he'll just post spurious stuff he doesn't know about, and left unchecked the positive attention encourages him to do it more. In running reddit, there's an interesting balance between the normal standards of professionalism (which we try very hard to uphold even when someone is being unreasonable) and the fact that we're a huge internet forum where a higher degree of openness is expected. I'm actually really focused on building competent, professional management precisely because the spotlight is always on us - and also because I've been at other Silicon Valley companies where that hasn't always been the case - but it also means that because of that spotlight, any tiny deviation can be hugely magnified."[1]

[1] https://np.reddit.com/r/RedditCensorship/comments/2ifd3p/ude...

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#167

Post by jmathes »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #142
kazinator wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fallacy of the excluded middle: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fallacy_of_the_exc... The choice is not between saying nothing, and completely devastating that person. Surely there is a third (or even fourth, fifth) alternative. Also, saying nothing doesn't lead to the belief it is a shitty workplace. Just because someone posting in a forum that he's been fired from Company X for a reason he doesn't underst…

True in theory, but in practice, even HN is full of comments like "Google is evil because [link to a random unfounded speculation/whining of ex-Googler]" and people believe them uncritically .

This is because (as I think you implied) HN, in a show of consistency with other online forums, is fond of reaching conclusions that are contrary to (any) conventional wisdom. This is a source of bias: I'm a current Googler who thinks Google is great, but this opinion doesn't change anyone's mind.

But this bias is a good thing. It causes internal disagreement, hindering solidarity, but it increases the rate at which we learn new things.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#168

Post by pgrote »

The CEO has responded to the criticism of how it was handled:

https://www.reddit.com/r/RedditCensorship/comments/2ifd3p/ud...

"Hiya. It was a harsh response, I agree (there's actually more, but we're pulling our punches, if you can believe it), and in fact all day yesterday I didn't want to post a reply, hoping his AMA wouldn't get too much traction or he wouldn't spout too many misconceptions and we could all just continue going our separate ways.

Problem is, this was starting to really irritate a number of employees who'd worked with him, and he's the kind of guy who enjoys the attention he can get by saying "I used to be a reddit admin" even though he'll just post spurious stuff he doesn't know about, and left unchecked the positive attention encourages him to do it more.

In running reddit, there's an interesting balance between the normal standards of professionalism (which we try very hard to uphold even when someone is being unreasonable) and the fact that we're a huge internet forum where a higher degree of openness is expected. I'm actually really focused on building competent, professional management precisely because the spotlight is always on us - and also because I've been at other Silicon Valley companies where that hasn't always been the case - but it also means that because of that spotlight, any tiny deviation can be hugely magnified."

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#169

Post by TeMPOraL »

Iftheshoefits wrote: post #147
Karunamon wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's not "professional", where that word has the common meaning of avoiding saying hard truths on the grounds that someone's feelings and/or political position might be hurt. This significantly elevates Reddit, IMO. Their CEO acts like a fucking human being instead of a politicized, sanitized, pretentious, weasel-wording sock puppet like so many other CEOs. You have no idea how much respect I have for this.

Why should anybody believe either the CEO or the ex-employee based only on their word? You're assuming the CEO has all the actual facts and is being honest about them. I can envision many scenarios where he may actually have cause to believe he has the actual facts, when he doesn't (e.g. colleagues lying about the employee's resistance to change, performance, etc.).

Because CEO has taken a few orders of magnitude more of personal risk here than the ex-employee.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#170

Post by dreamweapon »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #136
e40 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems the employee forced the issue, yes?

In the sense that he seems to have successfully trolled a CEO, yes, he "forced" the issue.

Which is of course the fault of the CEO... not the troll.
Post reply on HN