I look forward to Meta following the trajectory of Coinbase, so the more notes Meta cribs from Brian Armstrong, the better.
Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade
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Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade
#22Tricky. Politics/societal/economic/etc issues such as this one are very important to be discussed. However, companies are a place for work. Talking to co-workers can be quite fulfilling and exciting when conversing about engineering, marketing, or other work related subjects you are passionate about. However, anytime politics, etc are brought up I (for one) leave the conversation feeling in a worse state of mind than…
Managers cited a policy that put "strong guardrails around social, political and sensitive conversations" in the workplace, according to company insiders, the newspaper reported.
While I fully agree with what you’re saying, I’m wondering if Facebook actually agrees with you and that this is simply an application of existing policy or if this is a one-off experiment for them. The article seems a bit unclear.
Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade
#23Probably a wise decision, and not just because of conflicts between the different sides (I can't imagine there's a large pro-life contingent at Meta), but because of the dumpster fire that intra-political discussions have turned into.
Some people feel like discussing this in anything other than emotional terms is inappropriate, some people feel like we need to discuss the legal theory and history behind what happened, and some people feel like we should focus on the material/economic affects of the ruling. Each group feels that the others are ignoring the important parts, so it turns into a mess. Especially once you add into that that a proper understanding of the issue requires understanding some basic constitutional law, civics, and female anatomy, so a bunch of people are just saying things that are incorrect.
Also wise for their communication/public facing employees, who are going to be wading through a lot of related bullshit and should have SOME respite from it.
Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade
#24Tricky. Politics/societal/economic/etc issues such as this one are very important to be discussed. However, companies are a place for work. Talking to co-workers can be quite fulfilling and exciting when conversing about engineering, marketing, or other work related subjects you are passionate about. However, anytime politics, etc are brought up I (for one) leave the conversation feeling in a worse state of mind than…
I'm not sorry for taking the opposite opinion, and its strictly for the reason that: these megacorps will, at the drop of a hat, spend millions in donations and lobbying for whatever causes their executives believe furthers the goals of the business [1]. "We the executives" are allowed to talk about it, and pay for what we believe is right, but "you the line workers", shut up, if you don't like it go work somewhere else.
If they want to stay out of politics, then do that. But its extremely difficult for modern businesses to not have a hand in politics. That's fine; and to some degree I respect the line companies like Coinbase walk, where they push agendas that are fairly directly related to their business. Meta goes far beyond that, into financing for (great and important!) issues like voter suppression & minority representation. If they're going to open the floodgates, they can't be uncomfortable when some murky water comes flooding in.
[1] https://about.facebook.com/facebook-political-engagement/
Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade
#25Tricky. Politics/societal/economic/etc issues such as this one are very important to be discussed. However, companies are a place for work. Talking to co-workers can be quite fulfilling and exciting when conversing about engineering, marketing, or other work related subjects you are passionate about. However, anytime politics, etc are brought up I (for one) leave the conversation feeling in a worse state of mind than…
It’s hard to segregate politics from other things in life. Politics influences most things in life - our work, our school, what we can and can’t do. If I follow your claim, then corporations shouldn’t take a stance on climate change either. Is that really right?
Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade
#26Got to love the tacit admission that discussions on the platform inevitably turn into flamewars.
Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade
#27Does anybody really believe that workplace debates will sway the votes of senators?
Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
better keep my mouth shut then, can't have the productivity police issuing me a conversation penalty or i might end up in the stop-being-human prison
>can't have the productivity police issuing me a conversation penalty or i might end up in the stop-being-human prison Alright, it's clear that you're against this, but what's the argument for allowing this? In other words, why should the company tolerate using its channels as a soapbox to advance your political agendas, especially if it's a drain on productivity? I want to shitpost on company time/equipment/networks…
In the past, the power to set policy was in the hands of the few aristocrats, whose full time job was to discuss and fight over policy, while the lay people worked their fields. We fought hard to take that power from them.
Now a company asks its employees to forgo that power and liberty. Why did we take the power of policy from the aristocrats in the first place? We can of course go back to shut up, work the field peasant model and let them enjoy discussing policy for us while we produce goods.
What comes first? Your employer or your rights?
Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade
#29Probably a wise decision, and not just because of conflicts between the different sides (I can't imagine there's a large pro-life contingent at Meta), but because of the dumpster fire that intra-political discussions have turned into. Some people feel like discussing this in anything other than emotional terms is inappropriate, some people feel like we need to discuss the legal theory and history behind what happened…
Totally agree! I feel helpless and afraid of the Supreme court ruling. At the same time, I have seen firsthand how ridiculous such internal discussions have become at Twitter, and they silently take away so much of my work time and put me on the path of depression!
Re: Meta bans staff from open discussion of Roe vs. Wade
#30As it should be. Politics at work makes for untenable working conditions. Large enough companies will tend to have people deeply on both sides of the political spectrum. Encouraging or even allowing discussion on hot political issues is a recipe for disaster. It can ruin what we’re otherwise perfectly good working relationships.
Why? Meta is using the money they make off the women working for them against them.