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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

#181

Post by chipgap98 »

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.

I think the issue is that we are all trying to figure out who is in the right in this situation based on a handful of reddit comments. At the end of the day we don't have enough information to understand what truly happened.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#182

Post by TeMPOraL »

q2 wrote: post #179
szierk wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

where are the proofs that ex-employee is lying? It can be CEO is covering up. Is it not?

Is this probable given how much risk he would be taking on himself in this situation? It could be a career-and-company-ending move.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#183

Post by tdicola »

angersock wrote: post #173
penprog wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, this post only makes reddit look like a very unprofessional workplace.

It's a website with entire sections devoted to cat pictures, stupid image memes, borderline child pornography and all kinds of other weird shit. Why would you expect it to be "professional"?

When you've taken 50 million dollars in investment and are expected to bring a good return on it, amatuer hour is over.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#184

Post by TeMPOraL »

austinl wrote: post #153
differentView wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What should Yishan have said?

In the spirit of non-disparagement, it seems like Yishan could have sent a private message to the employee which reiterated why he had been fired, and asked him to stop posting about it. If Yishan felt that it was necessary to comment, he could have still posted something without Reddit losing face – something like, "We're sorry that you feel our decision to let you go was unclear. I've sent you a private message, an…

If he did that, this whole thread would be about how Reddit CEO is a weasel PR-drone incapable of honest talk.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't; people here are going to accuse him anyway, because it fits the David vs. Goliath narrative.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#185

Post by rosser »

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…

I didn't say no response was warranted. I said a stroppy response wasn't warranted.

Absolutely, letting the rumor mill run with this guy's allegations is a net negative for Reddit, so Yishan (or, preferably, his PR folks) needed to respond somehow.

My quibble is with the form and content of the response, not with there having been one.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#186

Post by opendais »

dreamweapon wrote: post #160
opendais wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was paraphrasing: "Officially: no reason. And I get this; I vaguely know how CA employment law works and that you limit your liability by not stating a reason. It's also really hard to work through in your mind. 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. ..." When you make a statement like "S…

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?

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#187

Post by q2 »

herge wrote: post #177
q2 wrote: post #174

I do not know much about laws. After working some years at an organization, asked to leave without stating any reason can be painful, traumatic to the employee. Employee can be alone with dependents and all of a sudden his/her world can be crashed. Basic human courtesy can be to let the employee clearly know why he/she is asked to leave. At least, after knowing the reasons, he/she may change his behavior in future em…

> After working some years at an organization How many years has this person worked at reddit? > Is it not fair/humane to give employee a chance to hear charges and to tell his/her side of story so that independent body can decide fairly? The employee does have a chance at redress by an independent body. At least in California, they can sew their past employer for wrongful termination. It will probably cost them a lo…

>> How many years has this person worked at reddit?

I do not know. It can be some days/weeks/months ...etc. You can read it as "after working some time" but integrity of the message/comment won't change.

>> The employee does have a chance at redress by an independent body.

What I mean is, independent body inside the organization, taking employees from different other groups so that they can judge fairly. It should not be difficult for any one since it takes just few hours occasionally but at the end of the exercise, everyone can have a feeling of fairness, justice and there will be no rumors/ill-feelings ...etc. After all, we are mere mortals.

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#188

Post by 8note »

Karunamon wrote: post #79
penprog wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, this post only makes reddit look like a very unprofessional workplace.

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.

Being human doesn't mean you have to be an asshole though.

ysihan is really on the side of politicized, sanitized, pretentious, weasel-wording sock puppet; minus the sanitized part.

Consider his posts about the celeb nude photos leaks

http://www.redditblog.com/2014/09/every-man-is-responsible-f...

and

http://www.reddit.com/r/yishan/comments/2frlxb/and_now_to_ma...

compared to somebody who's actually speaking like a human being

http://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/2fpdax/time_t...

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#189

Post by [deleted] »

[deleted] wrote: post #180
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.

[deleted]

[deleted]

Re: Reddit CEO Calls Out Former Reddit Employee on Reddit

#190

Post by nknighthb »

opendais wrote: post #112
nknighthb wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It is company policy not to comment on personnel matters." is the standard, expected response, no matter the guilt or innocence of either party. Is it satisfying? No. But it avoids exactly this situation. And by the way, even that response is only expected when the company is directly asked. The correct response until then is to simply pretend nobody (or at least nobody in management) is aware of the issue.

And some potential employees will look at it and go "Well, I am not going to risk working there" as a result either way.

His allegations were a mix of the implausible and the cliché. It would take a remarkably naïve candidate to both take these allegations at face value, and think Reddit is somehow unusual in being on the wrong end of them. If not having this stain is the criteria by which they judge potential employers, they will find no employment.

Now, however, potential experienced employees who actually live in the real world will be avoiding Reddit. Why put your career at the mercy of an obviously angry, irrational CEO? There are all sorts of companies big and small where the CEO is either rational or at least kept on a short leash by a competent board of directors.

Going into ordinary damage control mode whenever somebody says something negative about your company is worse than the original damage. Any statement at all draws attention to the issue and risks making you look defensive.

But this isn't even ordinary damage control mode, this is a CEO personally attacking an ex-employee. It may even make mainstream news now (...and so it begins[0]). And worse, he's doing this right after getting another $50 million to play with and announcing a new anti-worker policy.

Before seeing the CEO's response, I would have said that responding to the thread at all was the worst possible choice. But I would have been expecting the response to at least be of a remotely responsible form. If the comment hadn't already been two hours old when I saw it, I would have thought it more plausible that the account had somehow been compromised than that anyone would actually think to respond in such a manner.

And now he's doubled down, but vaguely[1], "there's actually more, but we're pulling our punches, if you can believe it". If the original comment wasn't legally actionable, that one might be. The CEO has created a PR and potentially legal nightmare where there was originally nothing but some guy howling at the moon.

I'm reminded of the OMGPOP/Dan Porter/Shay Pierce fiasco. Troubling that the CEO of "the front page of the internet" wouldn't have learned from that...

[0] http://gawker.com/reddit-ceo-shames-ex-reddit-staffer-on-red...

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

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