Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief • Hacker News Board

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#201

Post by go1dfish » Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 10:16 PM UTC

justizin wrote: post #137

stefantalpalaru wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I also applaud Reddit's announcement for calling the community out on their childish BS You mean this? > [1] Disagreements are fine. Death threats are not, are not covered under free speech, and will continue to get offending users banned. All that opposition - strong enough to convince "Chairman Pao" to resign - reduced to death threats? All those arbitrary bans written off as a just punishment for criminal behavi…

Calling her "Chairman Pao" is racist, but moreso, reductive.

Even Pao admits it's likely because her name rhymes well.

Reddit has ALWAYS loved irreverent and even incredibly offensive puns.

Redditors would be calling her Chairman Pao even if she was well loved just for humor value.

https://www.reddit.com/r/yishansucks

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#202

Post by amyjess » Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 10:16 PM UTC

Flammy wrote: post #112

amyjess wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Removal of several employees, likely because they wouldn't/didn't relocate to SF. Let's be perfectly honest here: that was Yishan's thing. He announced that change and set it into motion before he resigned.

Really? Didn't know that. I'm pretty sure Victoria at least was still in New York when she was fired... 3 years after that decision.

Victoria was given a special exception because she lived where half the celebrities were.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#203

Post by mynameisvlad » Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 10:16 PM UTC

austenallred wrote: post #147

nhf wrote: post #10

I think this was the right thing to do from a PR perspective. Having Steve back as the new CEO will definitely be good for the community. I also applaud Reddit's announcement for calling the community out on their childish BS: > As a closing note, it was sickening to see some of the things redditors wrote about Ellen. [1] The reduction in compassion that happens when we’re all behind computer screens is not good for…

> I think this was the right thing to do from a PR perspective. I think this was the right thing to do from a product perspective. Pao didn't really know how to use the site, and didn't ever particularly like the users. I don't know if Huffman likes the users, but one would assume that he would at least know how to use the site he helped build :)

Um, proof? The fact that she's been actually active on the site under her own account shows that clearly she knows how to use the site, so that argument alone is moot. I don't know how you can prove she didn't like the users unless she straight up said that.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#204

Post by luckydude » Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 10:17 PM UTC

I posted this over on reddit but it got lost in the noise:

Cool, I guess. But after having spent some time on voat.co I think reddit will get less and less of my attention (not that anyone gives a shit about me but I suspect I'm not alone).

Reddit's management has destroyed any sense of trust I had in Reddit (I'm looking at you /u/kn0thing, it's not just Ellen, my understanding is you fired Victoria, right? And then grabbed popcorn [I know, cheap shot, but it appears like you really fell out of touch]).

It appears that it is all about making money which I think is going to be the end of Reddit for some of us. Reddit could have a decent revenue stream on reasonable ads but that wasn't enough, it had to be more. That is really troubling because the next thing you might decide to "monetize" is what each of your users reads. That would make the NSA look amateurs and would be a massive invasion of privacy. It would also be very easy to monetize. Given all that has been going on, it would appear to be just a matter of time before "user optimized marketing" appears.

Welcome back but the existing management has dug you a mighty big hole. I don't trust you any more.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#205

Post by codingdave » Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 10:17 PM UTC

post_break wrote: post #56

pavel_lishin wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Will reddit lessen their censorship efforts? I doubt it. Garbage like FPH should have been dealt with much sooner. The reason there was a backlash about that at all, imo, is because they let it drag out too long. Reddit was the friend-parent for so long that when it finally came time to enforce some discipline, it came as a shock and felt like a betrayal.

Where is the limit? Coontown, does that get banned? Sexwithdogs? Incest? SRS? They seemed to hide behind the vail of harassment and not peak behind the curtain of what reddit really is. Reddits problem is they said anything goes, and then years later they saw what they created.

The limit is when the hate speech goes beyond online posts and starts encouraging harassment in real life. Simple as that. FPH crossed that line.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#206

Post by partiallogic » Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 10:17 PM UTC

devindotcom wrote: post #38

Maybe I missed it, but was there ever any information on why Victoria was fired, or whether Pao actually had anything (or everything) to do with it? From where I was sitting, it seemed like no one actually learned the full story, which might be confidential or take time to contextualize/safely explain, and everyone immediately threw it on Pao's lap and downvoted any holding maneuvers she and the rest of the staff tri…

On the reddit podcast Alexis said it was about wanting celebrities to be a part of the community.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#207

Post by robot22 » Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 10:17 PM UTC

The one take away I have from this situation is that we have an honesty problem. People criticize Reddit as a platform of hate and vitrol, but as in reality this only partially describes the entirety. They complain that people on the internet are too free to speak their minds, but perhaps this is a reflection on our society a place where honesty and the free exchange of ideas is discouraged.

Response to material: http://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/reddit-is-a-shrine-to-...

Food for thought: https://www.facebook.com/psiljamaki/posts/10153334440110516?...

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#208

Post by knodi123 » Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 10:17 PM UTC

jonathankoren wrote: post #183

ElComradio wrote: post #100

PR that comes out of corporations cannot be trusted. We cannot trust Altman is being honest that he appreciated her efforts. We can't trust that her and her husband were in love. All of this that comes out of spokesmen is carefully crafted as a result of a numbers game. When do we hear "so and so CEO did a horrible job and was forced out by the board."? Never. So are we to believe there is no such thing as a terrible…

> We can't trust that her and her husband were in love. What the fuck is this? And how is this relevant? And when was the last time you heard a similar comment about a man?

This is part of the scandal around her. It's not out of left field.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#209

Post by aeze » Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 10:17 PM UTC

justizin wrote: post #137

stefantalpalaru wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I also applaud Reddit's announcement for calling the community out on their childish BS You mean this? > [1] Disagreements are fine. Death threats are not, are not covered under free speech, and will continue to get offending users banned. All that opposition - strong enough to convince "Chairman Pao" to resign - reduced to death threats? All those arbitrary bans written off as a just punishment for criminal behavi…

Calling her "Chairman Pao" is racist, but moreso, reductive.

how is it racist?

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#210

Post by stefantalpalaru » Fri, Jul 10, 2015, 10:17 PM UTC

spinlock wrote: post #160

justizin wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling her "Chairman Pao" is racist, but moreso, reductive.

that's a stretch. if the intent is to create a sarcastic nick-name that compares the ceo to a dictator, "chairman pao" is going to be a front-runner not because pao and mao are both chinese but because pao and mao are only 1 letter different from each other.

You can't really reason with people once they labeled something as "racist". Convincing them that they are wrong would imply that they can't differentiate between what's racist and what's not and that's something that would affect their core beliefs.