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Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

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Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#281

Post by imanaccount247 »

opendais wrote: post #186
dreamweapon wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paraphrasing? I think you meant to say, "Sorry, I was just making that up."

> "The best theory I have is that, two weeks earlier, I raised concerns about donating 10% of ad revenue to charity. Some management likes getting feedback, some doesn't." How else could you possibly interpret this rationally in a conversation about being laid off?

>How else could you possibly interpret this rationally in a conversation about being laid off?

I dunno, how about interpreting it as what it says instead of making up an evil motive? It says he wasn't sure why and his best guess was that.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#282

Post by demachina »

mwfunk wrote: post #143
demachina wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If nothing else the Streisand effect insures Reddit is going to get about a million times more bad exposure, now that its going viral, than they would have when it was just a thread from a disgruntled ex employee. People were starting to question whether Reddit had a good CEO and corprate culture already, now its certain to gain momentum.

I came away from this with more respect for Reddit and it's CEO than I had before, so painting this as bad publicity for them isn't just something that can be assumed here. What the CEO said didn't seem inflammatory or over the top at all, it was just the facts with little or no vindictiveness. I'm not sure where anyone's sympathy for the former employee is coming from, or how anyone reading what the CEO wrote could…

You seem to have a natural tendency to side with the authority figure which is just as bad if not worse :)

How did you jump to the conclusion the CEO's version "was just the facts"? You seem to be saying because he is the boss that he is being factual and the employee inherently was not.

The CEO's spin might be the facts but it would be impossible for anyone who wasn't there to know. That's why an employer wouldn't normally air stuff like this in public, its one person's word against another, and the liability risks are steep.

I'm not basing my comments on which one of the two parties was being truthful, they might both think they are. You would have to do an indepth analysis of the employees performance, and the circumstances of his termination to know for sure.

I'm saying it was really poor judgement for a powerful employer to unload on a relateively powerless former employee, and air what should have been confidential HR information in public like that. If I were applying for a job with the guy I would think twice about working for someone willing to savage an employee in public like that. If I was on his board I'd sure think twice about whether he is the right person for a CEO job.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#283

Post by demachina »

7Figures2Commas wrote: post #271
pgrote wrote: post #168

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 c…

> In running reddit, there's an interesting balance between the normal standards of professionalism... Professionalism? The CEO originally wrote: > When an employee is dismissed from employment at a company, the policy of almost every company (including reddit) is not to comment, either publicly or internally. This is because companies have no desire to ruin someone's future employment prospects by broadcasting to th…

Anyone who places any confidence in references from former employers is kidding themselves in the first place. Most employers wont give a negative reference on any employee, the liability risks are simply too high in our litigous age.

Not sure why Reddit's CEO thought it was cool to put one on the Internet for the entire planet to see.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#285

Post by ktsmith »

general_failure wrote: post #238
at-fates-hands wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was my response as well. If anything, he should have someone else respond. The fact it irked the CEO enough to stop whatever important things he was doing to log in and craft a fairly long rebuttal is telling. I know plenty of people in PR and most would look at this and say this situation was completely mishandled. The CEO's comments actually makes him look worse than the whining ex-employee.

Huh? He is the CEO of the website. It's great that he takes these thing personally.

It's really not. It's business and this is potentially very bad for the business. Rather than an ex employees AMA being discussed the discussion has turned roundly onto the response of the CEO. Rather than talking about the $50 million in investment or what they plan to do with it everyone is busy talking about Yishan and his response to this thread, how he mishandled the relocation mandate to their employees and other things he's mishandled recently. Honestly if I were an investor in Reddit I'd be concerned about who's steering the ship.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#286

Post by michaelochurch »

opendais wrote: post #64
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.

Replying to public statements about yourself or your company isn't "vindictive". Things like this have a real business impact. I've cancelled interviewing at companies based on conversations with former employees that the company didn't have a satisfactory answer for. If I saw this in a public forum and Reddit failed to point out that the former employee was fired (and was aware he was fired) in a public setting (whi…

If I saw this in a public forum and Reddit failed to point out that the former employee was fired (and was aware he was fired) in a public setting (which would make them liable for being sued, if Reddit lied) holds alot more weight than "Oh, ya, that guy. He was full of shit" told to me privately would.

Every large company has fired at least one person, and every large company has at least one "full of shit" disgruntled ex.

Most companies haven't had a CEO Mushroom Stamp Heard 'round The World, though.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#287

Post by michaelochurch »

differentView wrote: post #128
krigi wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may have not been done for vindictive reasons, but it was definitely done for the wrong reason. This shows a clear lack of leadership abilities on the part of Yishan. I know people love a Jobsian dick in charge of tech companies (I use that loosely with reddit; they're an entertainment company), but that era is over. Show some professionalism even if someone is unprofessional toward you and your company.

What should Yishan have said?

Why should he say anything? Do you think that a bank CEO would interrupt his day to comment on the termination of an analyst?

If you need to deny it, you can say, "This isn't an accurate account of events" and leave it at that. But even that's unnecessary.

Sure, this guy was phenomenally stupid to start a pissing contest with his own employer on a forum said employer controls but that whole pig/mud thing is really true.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#288

Post by Crito »

tptacek wrote: post #104
fragmede wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming you're not trolling; "brigading" is you talk to all your similarly, minded peers on IRC with long-standing, legitimate HN accounts to flag the story because it annoys you. (Different from a voting ring, which may include non-legitimate accounts and lacks the 'tit-for-tat') I haven't flagged it because it's more than stupid high school drama, it's an object lesson - is the person who would become CEO on the s…

Unfamiliar with IRC slang, because don't hang out on IRC. Wasn't looking for an opportunity to relitigate the whole pointless thread on this subthread.

Brigading is not IRC slang. It is web forum slang, perhaps reddit specific. I've only heard it in the reddit/HN context, never in IRC. IRC is nevertheless a popular way to 'organize' such 'brigades'.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#289

Post by michaelochurch »

jsmthrowaway wrote: post #178
rosser wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A CEO's job isn't to be "a fucking human being". It's to be the public face of the company, and represent its interests in all of his/her professional (and often personal) interactions. To get stroppy like this abrogates that responsibility in such a way, and to such a degree, that it may well be actionable.

Disagree. Nipping the rumor in the bud that Reddit management fires for dissenting opinion has tangible value to hiring and retention, so a case could be made that Yishan was compelled to provide this response as part of his fiduciary duty. Reddit is a special case that is very pitchfork-happy when it comes to online drama, and even a mere offhand rumor will grow legs. This specific response with that level of harshn…

Tech companies fire people for dissenting opinions. I'm not sure that it's news, or even especially wrong. That's an unwritten rule of the workplace: don't question or embarrass your boss or his boss. Ever.

This kid had very little credibility. Oddly enough, though his situation is overall worse now that Yishan responded, he has more.

What we now have is a factual event, not speculation, and it's far more damaging than a rumor that someone might have been fired over a dissenting opinion (which is not unusual).

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#290

Post by skeletonjelly »

VLM wrote: post #103

No comments here on HN yet along the lines of all PR is good PR? Lets face it, this is Reddit. He didn't get fired from the local railroad yard. They're getting excellent traffic off this story. Even the guy who got fired is at least getting "internet famous" for a day. The whole story boils down to "reddit AMA's, something interesting to look at and talk about". Not seeing a problem here. A real conspiracy theory wo…

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