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Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm

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Re: Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm

#111

Post by juridatenshi »

fedvasu wrote: post #43

why people who believe in meritocracy are termed anti-feminists? No I don't even remotely know Pax, heck this is the first time I heard of him. Guys seriously do you want to sink to the level of quota and reservation based on gender now? It is exteremely difficult to get talented and motivated people in tech, let us not put gender bias or elitism on people who care about their field (may be just their company/org). I…

1. Meritocracy is a myth. This is probably worth a read. http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/you-keep-using-that-word/

2. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. That does not mean they are free from consequences when they share that opinion publicly.

Re: Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm

#112

Post by dragonwriter »

newnewnew wrote: post #31

Poor guy. For what it's worth I agree with the tweets that got him fired, including this one[1] and the ones immediately around it. The "controversial" apps from the techcrunch disrupt hackathon weren't really "misogynist", so much as in bad taste. And I'm tired of seeing accusations of "hate" used to shut down discussion. But it seems that tweeting that kicked off a PC feminist lynch mob that went back through his t…

> The one that is beyond the pale is a quote from Mel Gibson.

Actually, its a mockery of a Mel Gibson by projecting a quote from Mel Gibson about (IIRC) his ex-wife into a notional sequel to Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ, with Jesus being put into the position of the subject of the original quote.

As such, its probably the one least subject to challenge as being indicative of misogyny, since it is mocking the conflict between Gibson's statement and his public shows of piety.

Re: Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm

#114

Post by jcromartie »

Thrymr wrote: post #102
jcromartie wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I see that bias. Did he ever indicate that he thought certain people were unfit for a job because of their gender, religion, etc.?

He made this public comment on a BI job posting thread [1]: "@Liberal Insider: Haha, you'd feel pretty silly for writing that comment if you ever saw my twitter feed and read all the horrible things I say about Obama. :)" [1]: http://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-mobile-apps-developer-...

I don't get it. "Liberal Insider" said that you need to be a "bleeding heart liberal" who would support Barack Obama to work at BI. Pax refuted this referring to his history of statements against Obama.

I doubt it very much that he was implying you needed to be liberal OR conservative to work at BI.

Re: Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm

#115

Post by kmeritt »

meritt wrote: post #105
newnewnew wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Respectable == toeing the Marxist/feminist line. You can have political opinions in public, as long as its left. Meanwhile, this guy is still employed: https://twitter.com/anildash/status/370362753451827200 Also, "the economic catastrophe facing the global marketplace is a result of a failure of white culture in America."[2] Because, hey!, we all know white people are crazy. Good thing businesses never have to hire w…

http://valleywag.gawker.com/business-insider-ctos-is-your-ne... Pretty sure this guy qualifies as a douchebag and not simply trying to toe the line in a politically correct world. That is, of course, my opinion - but I sure as fuck wouldn't want this sort of individual publicly representing my company and embodying sort of behavior we tolerate, embrace or promote. Reply to Below- The tweets speak for themselves. No j…

I'll agree that harassment and discrimination ... in the workplace ... is a problem. Most of all in the boys club that is IT. This guy is a bro. His boss is a douche. Business Insider is fucking horrible forum for this to play out. And twitter is free speech unless they put it in writing and compensate you for ownership of your twitter account.

Like a meditative mantra... repeat after me... "Equality is for everyone, even shallow assholes."

It's not illegal for me to go out with my boss who's job I want, get him trashed, and when he tries to drive home, call the cops on his ass. You might call that entrapment or just fucking scummy behavior by everyone involved. This is basically the same thing in my view.

Re: Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm

#116

Post by kmeritt »

meritt wrote: post #105
newnewnew wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Respectable == toeing the Marxist/feminist line. You can have political opinions in public, as long as its left. Meanwhile, this guy is still employed: https://twitter.com/anildash/status/370362753451827200 Also, "the economic catastrophe facing the global marketplace is a result of a failure of white culture in America."[2] Because, hey!, we all know white people are crazy. Good thing businesses never have to hire w…

http://valleywag.gawker.com/business-insider-ctos-is-your-ne... Pretty sure this guy qualifies as a douchebag and not simply trying to toe the line in a politically correct world. That is, of course, my opinion - but I sure as fuck wouldn't want this sort of individual publicly representing my company and embodying sort of behavior we tolerate, embrace or promote. Reply to Below- The tweets speak for themselves. No j…

http://www.popehat.com/2013/09/10/speech-and-consequences/ To which I say, "Bullshit."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/education/harvard-case-stu... 'But she wanted to meet someone soon, maybe at Harvard, which she and other students feared could be their “last chance among cream-of-the-crop-type people,” as she put it.'

This woman is employable. I would have her on staff. Shallow though she might be.

Re: Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm

#117

Post by Thrymr »

jcromartie wrote: post #114
Thrymr wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He made this public comment on a BI job posting thread [1]: "@Liberal Insider: Haha, you'd feel pretty silly for writing that comment if you ever saw my twitter feed and read all the horrible things I say about Obama. :)" [1]: http://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-mobile-apps-developer-...

I don't get it. "Liberal Insider" said that you need to be a "bleeding heart liberal" who would support Barack Obama to work at BI. Pax refuted this referring to his history of statements against Obama. I doubt it very much that he was implying you needed to be liberal OR conservative to work at BI.

You can read it that way, sure. But why would anyone with hiring authority ever make a comment like that on a public forum about his own job posting?

Re: Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm

#118

Post by rollo_tommasi »

newnewnew wrote: post #65
hosay123 wrote: post #26

For all the value of political correctness in the workplace, someone just lost their job for their honest views, because some found them too ugly to bear. If you're still thirsty for more ugly truth, check out a Twitter search for @paxdickinson just now. Apparently to many, honesty is objectively worse than endless vengeful hate. I don't support anything this guy said, but clearly some of it was sarcasm, and as for t…

The politically correct and their defenders engage in Crocodile Humor , the laughter of the powerful at the powerless[1]. It is an ugly thing to behold. "Many UR readers have had the priceless educational privilege of growing up behind the Iron Curtain. These readers will identify Professor DeLong’s tone at once: it is the tone of the Soviet humor magazine Krokodil[2]. I will take the liberty of Anglicizing, and call…

It is beyond ludicrous to suggest that a C-suite executive at a media company is "the powerless".

Re: Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm

#119

Post by theorique »

jcromartie wrote: post #78
rit wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was in a position to hire people, and expressing views that clearly indicated bias towards certain protected classes. That alone would be cause for concern. I don't know that I"d advocate his firing, but I'd certainly question his authority to hire & fire staff based on the things he's said.

I'm not sure I see that bias. Did he ever indicate that he thought certain people were unfit for a job because of their gender, religion, etc.?

This one specifically disparaged female devs:

"Tech managers spend as much time worrying about how to hire talented female developers as they do worrying about how to hire a unicorn."

https://twitter.com/paxdickinson/status/202095372355633152

Re: Business Insider CTO Forced to Resign Following Twitter Firestorm

#120

Post by theorique »

newnewnew wrote: post #65
hosay123 wrote: post #26

For all the value of political correctness in the workplace, someone just lost their job for their honest views, because some found them too ugly to bear. If you're still thirsty for more ugly truth, check out a Twitter search for @paxdickinson just now. Apparently to many, honesty is objectively worse than endless vengeful hate. I don't support anything this guy said, but clearly some of it was sarcasm, and as for t…

The politically correct and their defenders engage in Crocodile Humor , the laughter of the powerful at the powerless[1]. It is an ugly thing to behold. "Many UR readers have had the priceless educational privilege of growing up behind the Iron Curtain. These readers will identify Professor DeLong’s tone at once: it is the tone of the Soviet humor magazine Krokodil[2]. I will take the liberty of Anglicizing, and call…

Mr Dickinson tweeted disparaging comments about female developers (while serving as CTO and thus being in a position to hire developers). He tweeted out sarcastic comments about the "Passion of the Christ" with a racial slur against blacks.

Oh, and he did this from a twitter account with mini-bio that featured his position as CTO of Business Insider.

I'm far from politically correct, but if I were CEO and this were my CTO, and I heard about this, he would have one and only one chance to make his account anonymous and disconnect it from my company and my brand. Personal views and "your own time" is one thing, but when you put your professional title (especially at CxO level) and your company name in your twitter bio, you're representing a brand whether or not you want to be.

He wasn't fired because liberals engaged in Crocodile Humor. He was fired because he made an unprofessional social media decision and attracted a hurricane of shit from a broad swath of the internet that spilled over to the brand of his company.

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