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Twilio Acquires Electric Imp
31–40 of 55 posts
Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp
#32Completely OT but these announcements for acquisitions, new releases etc: Why are they always excited ? We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family. : Now that Twilio and Electric Imp have joined forces, we’re more excited than ever to see what you build. I get professional pride; it just always seems a bit overdone and insincere when it's phrased like that - though I'm sure in some cases…
Its an American cultural norm- which often seems 'fake' or 'posing' to Europeans, S.Americans or Asians who are little more reserved and stingy expressing such levels of sentiment. It was a shock to me when I started interviewing for jobs- and an American friend told me, its very important in the US, when interviewing to say "I'm really excited (more than you really are) about the opportunity to work at XYZ." The tru…
I noticed something similar with expressing gratitude - I feel like Americans are much more likely to write things like "Thank you for your amazing work on this!" or "Thanks so much, that's extremely helpful!". Sometimes it makes it a bit hard to tell whether people really think you did a good job or whether it's just pleasantries. I think it's generally meant in a friendly way though, and I have started to be a bit more expressive with thanks as well (though only when I mean it).
Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp
#33Completely OT but these announcements for acquisitions, new releases etc: Why are they always excited ? We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family. : Now that Twilio and Electric Imp have joined forces, we’re more excited than ever to see what you build. I get professional pride; it just always seems a bit overdone and insincere when it's phrased like that - though I'm sure in some cases…
Its an American cultural norm- which often seems 'fake' or 'posing' to Europeans, S.Americans or Asians who are little more reserved and stingy expressing such levels of sentiment. It was a shock to me when I started interviewing for jobs- and an American friend told me, its very important in the US, when interviewing to say "I'm really excited (more than you really are) about the opportunity to work at XYZ." The tru…
OT, but as a non-American I have always wondered what are the origins of those "smiling, teeth slightly showing" corporate mugshots? And I've started to see these from other places as well (like in my own country), of late.
An example (this stuck with me as I had seen it in an article years ago): https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjay-jha-a91240b9
Then, there's this aspect that creeps me out is when you pass someone and you get that fake, as if it's mandatory, "pulled cheek" smile (My HRs do that as well). It just reduces the value of a smile to nothing.
I liked it that when I was backpacking in Europe nobody usually gave me that mandatory non-smile smile.
Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
I lived in Germany for two years and spent a lot of that time talking to natives, as well as students and refugees from around the world. When I returned home to my native America, I was put off by how over-the-top positive people were. I get it that when you say “how are you” in America, people are usually not asking how you are actually doing. I think I surprised a few people by telling them about all the things th…
Not really. Pleasantries are common all over the world. If you've ever spent time in Latin America then you'd know it's rude not to ask anyone how they are before engaging in any sort of conversation. The Middle East (i.e East Asia) has very similar mannerisms. Engaging in these pleasantries signals I view you as a person rather than you are just a means to an end. It's the literal equivalent of foreplay before sex.
It's not the performing of pleasantries, but the level at which Americans perform them vs the norm in most of western Europe.
The average level of American "OMG so excited to meet you" is usually reserved for actual celebrities in Europe. When you have seen them talk like that to everyone in the room, the conclusion for the European is that the American is lying about being excited to meet you, which is much more offensive than if they just said "pleased to meet you".
Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
I lived in Germany for two years and spent a lot of that time talking to natives, as well as students and refugees from around the world. When I returned home to my native America, I was put off by how over-the-top positive people were. I get it that when you say “how are you” in America, people are usually not asking how you are actually doing. I think I surprised a few people by telling them about all the things th…
Not really. Pleasantries are common all over the world. If you've ever spent time in Latin America then you'd know it's rude not to ask anyone how they are before engaging in any sort of conversation. The Middle East (i.e East Asia) has very similar mannerisms. Engaging in these pleasantries signals I view you as a person rather than you are just a means to an end. It's the literal equivalent of foreplay before sex.
> The Middle East (i.e East Asia)
You mean West Asia? East Asia is the Far East; that's the whole point of using the term "the Middle East" for what was originally just "the East".
Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is also a Bay Area thing. I've noticed that almost everything must have a bit of hyperbole to even be "Normal"... Imagine if someone says "How did you like X movie?" and you say "Yeah, I liked it". In the bay area that response would be assumed negative. Why go to a certain movie if it's not "Amazing"? Why spend $50 on sushi if it's not "Life changing"? Why wear shoes that are not "The best!" ? This is bay area…
Is there a particular reason for this becoming a cultural norm? My country (NZ) has the opposite culture. It would be really weird to hear people talk with that much hyperbole.
I imagine that the Bay area is more than usually filled with aggressively ambitious people, projecting "fake it till you make it" success to both themselves and others. If everyone around you does the same, anything less than "perfect" makes you a loser, which conflicts with the self image you are cultivating. Therefore, everything must be as amazing as possible just to keep up with the rest. A sort of real life instagram syndrome if you will.
NZ (and other parts of the world as well, like the Nordic countries) have a similar reinforcing loop but in reverse. Excess boasting is seen as offensive, so nobody does it, so the average behavior trends towards modesty, making boasting stand out even more.
Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp
#37Completely OT but these announcements for acquisitions, new releases etc: Why are they always excited ? We are really excited that Electric Imp is now part of the Twilio family. : Now that Twilio and Electric Imp have joined forces, we’re more excited than ever to see what you build. I get professional pride; it just always seems a bit overdone and insincere when it's phrased like that - though I'm sure in some cases…
It's the endless pursuit to personify business. It comes from middle management being mostly uncreative and lifeless drones.
Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Its an American cultural norm- which often seems 'fake' or 'posing' to Europeans, S.Americans or Asians who are little more reserved and stingy expressing such levels of sentiment. It was a shock to me when I started interviewing for jobs- and an American friend told me, its very important in the US, when interviewing to say "I'm really excited (more than you really are) about the opportunity to work at XYZ." The tru…
I lived in Germany for two years and spent a lot of that time talking to natives, as well as students and refugees from around the world. When I returned home to my native America, I was put off by how over-the-top positive people were. I get it that when you say “how are you” in America, people are usually not asking how you are actually doing. I think I surprised a few people by telling them about all the things th…
> I get it that when you say “how are you” in America, people are usually not asking how you are actually doing.
That’s not quite right, it usually is really asking that question, however, the space of acceptable responses (both in range of acceptable tones and maximum level of detail) varies widely based on context and relationship with the questioner. You are usually safe treating it as if it were an empty ritual to which the correct response is “fine, and you?” (unless it is already being echoed back to you), but that's not quite what it is in most situations.
Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really. Pleasantries are common all over the world. If you've ever spent time in Latin America then you'd know it's rude not to ask anyone how they are before engaging in any sort of conversation. The Middle East (i.e East Asia) has very similar mannerisms. Engaging in these pleasantries signals I view you as a person rather than you are just a means to an end. It's the literal equivalent of foreplay before sex.
It's not the performing of pleasantries, but the level at which Americans perform them vs the norm in most of western Europe. The average level of American "OMG so excited to meet you" is usually reserved for actual celebrities in Europe. When you have seen them talk like that to everyone in the room , the conclusion for the European is that the American is lying about being excited to meet you, which is much more of…
> The average level of American "OMG so excited to meet you" is usually reserved for actual celebrities in Europe
I've been an American all my life, and I've never seen anyone say they were excited to meet someone other than either an actual celebrity or someone who has been significantly talked up in advance to the level of being at a quasi-celebrity level in context (and even in the latter case, “I'm glad to finally meet you”, possibly followed by an explanation of the reason they've been looking forward to it, is much more common than expressions of excitement.)
Honestly, the behavior you seem to be describing is one which would strike most Americans as both unusual and deeply disingenuous.
Re: Twilio Acquires Electric Imp
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really. Pleasantries are common all over the world. If you've ever spent time in Latin America then you'd know it's rude not to ask anyone how they are before engaging in any sort of conversation. The Middle East (i.e East Asia) has very similar mannerisms. Engaging in these pleasantries signals I view you as a person rather than you are just a means to an end. It's the literal equivalent of foreplay before sex.
> The Middle East (i.e East Asia) You mean West Asia? East Asia is the Far East; that's the whole point of using the term "the Middle East" for what was originally just "the East".
Yep, my bad.