If this topic interests you, Tim Wu's latest book, "The Attention Merchants," might also. He chronicles the rise of attention-monetizing by the media and the various rebellions against them.
Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It
221–230 of 572 posts
Re: Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It
#222Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with hn is that it's likely to get past your primary defenses and justify itself by telling you the information provided is useful and relevant. Also, the conversations are likely to engage you at a higher level and the many of the arguments require laying out your case like a legal team to be taken seriously.
It is useful and relevant. However, just because something is good for you doesn't mean it can't be used as a distraction from another task.
No argument here, hence my constaclicking.
Re: Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Your religion or political opinions should not matter at work. Keep in mind though that that's just a current fashion, not a law of the universe. You could just as easily make the case that if your religion doesn't matter at work, you should get a new religion (or a new workplace). The only reason our current beliefs are in fashion is basically that the continual development of new technology has made public morali…
It is not a law of the universe, but it is somewhat more than fashion. In California, it is the law. Quoting from http://volokh.com/2013/08/06/lawsuit-over-firing-based-on-em... In 1937, “the California Legislature, recognizing that employers could misuse their economic power to interfere with the political activities of their employees, enacted Labor Code sections 1101 and 1102 to protect the employees’ rights.” Lab…
... and the law is the current fashion. It too could change on a wave of unpopularity.
Re: Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It
#224I'm addicted to HN like that. Should I quit it then?
Re: Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I've recently been finding it really hard to concentrate on my work I've overcome my Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter problems, but I can't seem to shake Hacker News.
I have the same problem. I found editing my hosts files helps. 127.0.0.1 news.ycombinator.com When or if I try to go to HN I get an error in my browser and instantly reminded. Then I get back to work. One time I went 6 months without visiting HN.
HN offers this functionality itself. Go to your profile, enable 'noprocrast' and customize the intervals.
Re: Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
> and expresses that view In my opinion, it hinges upon the expression. If they are pleasant at work then one day you find their Facebook profile has a racial and homophobic slur, I don't think that's interfering with the work environment. If they say the same thing to you at work, then you can talk to HR. Unfortunately, by drawing the line here I'm allowing the possibility that you have to work with someone you don'…
> If they are pleasant at work I don't think being pleasant has anything to do with this. Perhaps you meant professional? Assuming that, what if someone is professional at work, but often says at work that they believe black people should be lynched and are subhuman. Is that ok? If it isn't acceptable, why isn't it?
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Re: Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I've recently been finding it really hard to concentrate on my work I've overcome my Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter problems, but I can't seem to shake Hacker News.
I can relate to that and part of it is probably because we don't want to be left out, we don't want to miss the latest technology that will make us obsolete, etc. 1) Reading HN all the time creates a false sense that things are moving much faster than they really are. 2) I'd suggesting reading "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" and it'll remind you your time is finite https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-C…
I couldn't help but see an irony in the Amazon description for this book considering the subject being discussed :)
"In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people."
That being said this looks interesting and I am going to give this a read. Thanks for the tip!
Re: Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It
#228There is also another aspect. In theory your personal life and work are separated. Your religion or political opinions should not matter at work. But many people (sadly even on HN) think it is ok to fire people, based on their opinions.
I don't want to work with a nazi, or with a racist, or with a fundamentalist zealot. I believe it's absolutely okay to get rid of these people in a company, as work is a social environment, no matter the level of professionalism. And also they may cause harm to the organisations they're part of.
Are they really nazis and zealots, or were they labeled as such? How would you discus these views with the person and change their mind if you label them as unworthy of your employer.
Free speech acts as Natural selection for ideas. Bad ideas never get checked and fester in filter bubbles if you don't let people express themselves openly.
Re: Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It
#229I'm addicted to HN like that. Should I quit it then?
In your profile you can set 'noprocrast' to allow you a max visit length and a minimum time between visits. Wean yourself off to only browse at certain times of day or week where it is convenient and useful to you (ie. news catchup hour)
Re: Quit Social Media, Your Career May Depend on It
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a great point. Why not?
Because a comment made on a public worldwide-readable forum is not private, and you know that before you sign up with an account, so it's not like you accidentally made a public comment that was meant to be private. Protecting private communication is about just that - stuff that actually is private (to begin with). Public opinion and the law may of course change, the issue that something uttered in public, be it by…
While I agree with your assessment, It is worth remembering that before the advent of the internet, even when speaking in public was not as widely public as it can be today.