As a CEO she chose to take actions in manner and method that allowed things to spiral out of control. It was her job to control the message and blowback. She failed at her job, therefore she needed to go. It is really that simple.
Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief
211–220 of 877 posts
Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief
#212Maybe 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…
Yes, the whole thing stunk like gamergate imo. I honestly don't care about whatever minor offense pao did, I wanted her to stay just so that the vitriol and misogyny on the front page attacking her would not "win".
It's very much like GamerGate. There is an attempt to deflect an overwhelming amount of legitimate criticism by pointing to a few trolls and characterizing all of it as "racist and misogynist".
Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief
#213It's interesting how fast people go from hating[1] /u/kn0thing to love[2] him again [1]: https://np.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/3bwgjf/riama... [2]: https://pay.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3cucye/an_ol...
And then Ellen echoed his statement: https://www.reddit.com/r/self/comments/3cudi0/resignation_th...
what is happening, not used to reading positive interactions on reddit with that account...
Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone who has only watched this popcorn feast, I have the sense that she was the subject of vitriol primarily for taking actions that people didn't like. Many of the insults may well have targeted her gender, but that is not the same thing at all. I have seen literally no evidence that she was harassed simply for being a woman.
It seems like the major source of antipathy towards her was the firing of Victoria Taylor, which happened on her watch, but was actually done by a man who is still at the company, and nobody seems to want him fired. It's entirely possible I have some or all of my facts wrong, but this is what I understand to be the case.
The point of leadership is to deal with these sorts of issues, and take those hits when they don't pan out. It's like having your cake and eating it. On the one hand, we use the excuse: "just doing his/her job" or "just following orders", and then on the other hand: "Happened on his/her watch, by a subordinate", as if it makes it okay. The blame needs to be shared (if appropriate), and not shoved around depending on which side we are currently arguing for/against.
Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief
#215> Sam Altman, a member of Reddit’s board, said he personally appreciated Ms. Pao’s efforts during her two years working at the start-up. “Ellen has done a phenomenal job, especially in the last few months,” he said. This is clearly nonsense, otherwise there wouldn't have been a grassroots campaign to remove Ellen Pao from her role. If Sam Altman honestly believes that Ellen did a "phenomenal" job, he should reconside…
If he thought she did a phenomenal job, it wouldn't have been "a mutual agreement between her and Reddit's board" for her to leave. He would have fought to keep her.
Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
Reading between the lines and viewing her resignation in the context of what she's had to go through in the past few months, she was harassed out of the job by the user base.
E. Pao and Brendan Eich are the two polar examples why the word 'harassment' has lost its meaning.
You're not trying to say the two are comparable are you?
Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief
#217I don't like this at all. Even if she wasn't the right person (I don't know), all the worst elements of the site are going to see this as a victory for their awful behavior and it's going to get worse. The people who attacked her with sexism and comments about her personal relationships. The people who supported FPH even though they were attacking people in real life and off Reddit, not just posting comments in their…
He did call redditors out in the announcement though, maybe it'll be alright https://reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3cucye/an_old_te... " 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 the world. People are still people even if there is Internet between you. "
I hadn't read his post yet, God I'm glad to see that. I hope you're right.
Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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.
https://np.reddit.com/r/FaithInHumanity/comments/39ee4c/char...
She tried to share a link to a private message. That's the equivalent of my mom emailing me and saying, "Here's the picture - c:\\user\desktop\pic.jpg" - it demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how the site works.
Then everyone who replied was shadowbanned and every post was deleted. So no, she literally didn't know how to use the site.
Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief
#219I don't like this at all. Even if she wasn't the right person (I don't know), all the worst elements of the site are going to see this as a victory for their awful behavior and it's going to get worse. The people who attacked her with sexism and comments about her personal relationships. The people who supported FPH even though they were attacking people in real life and off Reddit, not just posting comments in their…
> She didn't do a good job of it, but at least she tried to stand up against some of the worst of Reddit. These are two separate things. The fact that she tried to stand up against some of the idiots that inhabit the site doesn't mitigate against the fact that she did not do a good job. She should have resigned or been fired for not doing a good job regardless of how well she coped with the jerks en masse.
They're not the same thing, my worry is that some Redditors (or employees) may not pay attention to the difference and avoid further cleanup.
Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The reduction in compassion that happens when we’re all behind computer screens is not good for the world. People are still people even if there is Internet between you. That is humanity. People are narcissistic assholes. If the average person wasn't scared of what would happen or how they're perceived they'd punch you right in the face for looking in their direction. That's what internet anonymity does. Brings out…
Humanity is also full of cynical assholes.
touché