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I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

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Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#391
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

See you have a healthy respect for the idea of free expression, as do I Unfortunately we are in the minority, the majority wants SOMEONE ELSE to choose what they can see, what is the "good speech" and what is the "bad speech" They want someone else to tell them what the "good things" are they should be supporting, and what the "bad things" are that they need to oppose In short, people no longer want to think critical…

I honestly don’t understand how this ignorant of a comment still gets on HN. What y’all are talking about is “The Internet” where all the trash and racist are free to make whatever content they want. What everyone else is talking about is private companies that publish trash based on recommendation engines, timeline visibility algorithms, sharing functions, and whole other bunch of programmed ways to “increase engage…

>> I honestly don’t understand how this ignorant of a comment still gets on HN. What y’all are talking about is “The Internet” where all the trash and racist are free to make whatever content they want.

Oh, the irony.

Racism is protected speech. Hate is protected speech. You seem not to understand free speech so you want it suppressed - it sounds a lot like the Inquisition in good ol' times.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#392

Interesting that someone would give a public resignation like this but still give two weeks notice (presuming he gave notice on Monday). I'd imagine it likely that the company would just let him go immediately after making a public statement.

He had to do it because of contractual obligations, obviously. He's probably on garden-leave now. Standard procedure for resignations in a big security-aware company (which I hope FB is) is to immediately suspend all access and escort out of the building. You can always ask him to come back to help with stuff later, as a visitor.

So in the end, firing him after he resigned like this would be counterproductive: you don't gain any organizational advantage and you're actually inviting trouble from the media.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this analogy the parent poster would not be seeking to improve society, they'd be seeking to end it.

I don't think that's true. You can eat fast food once in a while and still be very healthy. They're not necessarily advocating for (metaphorically) shutting down all fast food restaurants, just making a point about over-consumption side effects. At least that's how I read it.

That's how you read it because that's what they said. Not sure why the original reply felt the need to add "stupid" as "So people love it" makes the same point. Mister Gotcha is probably replying implicitly to the addition of 'stupid' to make a point. Except now that they've stuck their stakes in the ground and are getting defensive, let the pedantic internet slap-fight commence

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#394
For background: I am a married white male, in 50s, with one teenage child, and I've made a comfortable 6 figure income for a number of years now. And I had three honorary godfathers that were my father's best friends and good friends of the family (Haitian, an ex-Black Panther, and an Asian-American real-estate broker). But I wasn't always comfortable - I have worked in metal finishing plants, leather-working plants, and for ARC when I was much younger and struggling. This whole thread speaks to privilege to me.

There are people who do not vote because they cannot afford the couple hours or so away from their job without fear of getting fired. And we think someone should quit, before even getting another job, if they disagree with a company's stance on a social media issue?

If you were a cop, then yes..I could see quitting, though the braver thing would be to stay, rise, and change from the inside (just watch your back).

You want to help, and your organization is not one of the ones actually killing Americans? Don't quit your job. Unless you are truly essential personnel you leaving will be a hit, but one the company can likely recover from pretty quickly with not too much pain. Instead: Speak out; take a stance; help protesters and civil rights leaders locally with your donated skills. Better yet, also work to convince your company to take a stand.

I applaud anyone's desire to protest, in any way they feel comfortable with. I also applaud anyone's desire to be an ally without protesting, in however you can, if you feel you have to protect your life and those around you and protesting scares you too much that you won't be able to do that. I do not applaud anyone who protests as a way of getting likes, or protests as a way to act out, or protests as a way to say 'look at me'.

Also, if you protest..act out, but abhor violence. As Presiden Obama said..civil disobedience and the political process are not mutually exclusive and must be used hand in hand together until you are heard.

Actions speak louder that words. I abhor violence now, and do not advocate it, but I remember an incident when I was 10 in W.Va. A senior in high school, a white kid, was picking on three of us, myself and and white boy (B) in my class and an African-American (C) in our class. He was picking on the African-American boy the most, with racial epithets and physical shoving and occasional punch as he would walk by. This happened over a span of time.

C was upset but didn't want to tell his parents. He told me was ashamed that he was being singled out. Let that sink in a moment. The victim felt ashamed for being victimized. The other boy B said we should avoid him as best we could, changing where we played and missing out on playing on the river. It happened again and again until I got fed up, picked a broom up by the handle, swung it over my head and whacked the senior in the head with the other end, making him need 5 stitches. I should have tried non-violent actions, but I did something, whereas B did not. I got a lot of trouble for that, but he never picked on any of us again.

The point of the story is that action that has impact is needed. Action without action is action for the sake of saying you did something. And yes, I abhor violence now, but I cannot blame people for violence during protests when they can go buy baby formula in the middle of the night and wonder if they'll be killed by those who are supposed to protect us, for the crime of DWB.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

he's a "Software Engineer" at facebook. He's not even a "Senior Software Engineer" He is NOT making 250k and he likely lives _near_ facebook which means _most_ of his money is going directly into housing. There are a LOT of people working what is normally considered a high income job in the bay area and living out of their vans because that's the only way they can actually have any money left over at the end of the m…

The average facebook dev in the Bay area with 0 years of experience starts over 180. The average FAANG dev hits 250K around 3-4 years of total industry experience.

180K total comp or yearly before-taxes salary or ...?

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is literal research showing that Facebook is harmful to mental health https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sex-murder-and-the-m... Facebook also has a long history of meddling in elections and actively promoting far right groups. Meanwhile, fascism is absolutely not a meaningless label, and it's literally what's happening in US right now. Trump’s own former defense secretary just compared him to the nazis ht…

My comparison holds. Alcohol is bad for you too with extensive research confirming that. As for fascism, you may be right in principle, but in practice the word has become associated with 'things I do not like'. Not completely unlike, say, anti-semitism ( though that one is holding up a lot better in comparison ). All I am saying is, think of your audience.

Your comparison is the definition of a false equivalence fallacy. And words have meaning, and the fact that many people in US don't understand what the fascism means is not a reason to stop using the term. This simply shows the need for education.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#398

He’s standing up for what he believes. You can disagree with his convictions, but you should admire anyone who risks personal and financial consequences for sticking to their guns. That’s what actual morality is—not just a “belief” that is talked about but acted upon even when the results will be costly.

It’s a highly privileged position to be in to make a personal stand and leave your $250,000 job for another $250,000 job. Not judging this way or that, just saying.

People with this level of income could also manage to support 3 or 4 others with UBI. Not saying one person making a moral stand is bad, but economically hundreds of thousands of FAANGers could make a humongous impact.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#399
post #278
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine the damage to the business for not having someone creating more than $250k of value annually. Of course at Facebook's scale it's a small number, but given the damage to their reputation, they will have to take note once this crosses critical mass.

Unless he was in a very unusual position of leading some kind of research project related to Facebook's core business, there will be close to no damage. It's a huge corporation, not a bootstrapped startup, everyone is highly replaceable.

Luckily, he made a very public post about it which is currently being discussed in one of the most influential tech news aggregators on the internet. If others are inspired and also leave the company, it will make an impact.

Re: I'm resigning from my job at Facebook

#400
post #363
post #282

So he doesn't believe that one should be able to protect their property? If looting is not the one that should be discouraged with shots, then what about rape? If that also not, then where it starts? How do you stop looters? Asking nicely? Mob has its own personality and it doesn't have conscious. I don't like current US president (BTW I'm not US citizen, nor do I live there), but that quote wasn't the one people sho…

It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with the quote, the concern OP had was that Facebook was refusing to apply its policies against glorifying violence (and the quote absolutely is) to specific individuals. (Certainly the POTUS is not the average person, but Twitter's solution of marking that his comment was against terms of use is an extremely easy compromise.)

This argument is the best I found here, doesn't pander to emotions.

But Trump even clarified he meant that this is what he thought it would happen, and it did happen.

We could pointlessly argue if he did mean that or if he was trying to cause violence.

I'm not sure we should censor someone based in what we think the person meant for it.

I still think this is all nonsense caused by a sensitive topic, nonsense being calling for Trump to be censored.

I am arguing if he should be censored and people are responding as if I think people should be killed for protesting.

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