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Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

nytimes.com

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Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#441

Post by vacri »

axlprose wrote: post #297
badsock wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting, but those last two lines read to me like a callout to #gamergate's "It's about ethics in journalism" BS.

So questioning ethics in any kind of journalism anywhere is automatically BS now because of some random highly-opinionated internet drama? Way to discourage critical thinking. Orwell and Huxley would be proud.

The irony in this comment about not discouraging critical thinking whilst shaming someone drawing a parallel... first overstating the GP's case to extremes, then doing a form of Reductio ad Hitlerum...

... it's just delicious.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#442

Post by InclinedPlane »

buckbova wrote: post #130
nhf wrote: post #10

I think this was the right thing to do from a PR perspective. Having Steve back as the new CEO will definitely be good for the community. I also applaud Reddit's announcement for calling the community out on their childish BS: > As a closing note, it was sickening to see some of the things redditors wrote about Ellen. [1] The reduction in compassion that happens when we’re all behind computer screens is not good for…

> The reduction in compassion that happens when we’re all behind computer screens is not good for the world. People are still people even if there is Internet between you. That is humanity. People are narcissistic assholes. If the average person wasn't scared of what would happen or how they're perceived they'd punch you right in the face for looking in their direction. That's what internet anonymity does. Brings out…

> That is humanity. People are narcissistic assholes. If the average person wasn't scared of what would happen or how they're perceived they'd punch you right in the face for looking in their direction.

I disagree. Some people: yes. Average person: I don't know, I suspect probably not. I've met a lot of people from different parts of the US, Canada, and around the world. A great many of them have exhibited a tendency towards genuine empathy. That too is human nature, it's not all narcissism and self-interest.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#443

Post by sb057 »

jellicle wrote: post #418
sb057 wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you linked to is indeed completely dubious: 1) not targeting nor contacting anybody; not harassment. 2) discussion of another reddit post is not harassment. there was a single comment made on the post which could be considered harassing. 3) victim willingly made comment. in addition, said victim is against the banning of subreddits. 4) I have no idea how this could be considered harassment. 5) see #2 6) you can…

That's quite a defense of harassing fat women that you've written.

No, it is a defense of hating fat women (and men). Quite a difference. Not that I personally approve of such behavior, of course.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#444

Post by darkstar999 »

davmre wrote: post #65
devindotcom wrote: post #38

Maybe I missed it, but was there ever any information on why Victoria was fired, or whether Pao actually had anything (or everything) to do with it? From where I was sitting, it seemed like no one actually learned the full story, which might be confidential or take time to contextualize/safely explain, and everyone immediately threw it on Pao's lap and downvoted any holding maneuvers she and the rest of the staff tri…

This (deleted) Quora post is the best explanation I've seen thus far: http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--N83GXLMb...

Pao specifically denied this screenshot.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#445

Post by nopenopeyep »

nostrademons wrote: post #262
sbilstein wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I'm so disappointed that Reddit's management allowed such a crappy culture to evolve in their forums for so long. I remember signing on in 2010 and just feeling really uncomfortable browsing any of the major subreddits. Why did it take so long to deal with characters like violentacrez?

The Reddit founders had very strong ideas about censorship and freedom of speech, and so as a matter of principle, they refused to censor subreddits unless the latter were breaking the law. As far as growth goes, this was probably the right choice, as a lot of Reddit's userbase came from previously marginalized groups who now had a forum for their interests on the Internet. Note that Hacker News made the opposite cho…

a variety of mechanisms (slow-banning, hell-banning, quarantine, explicit moderation) that makes it very clear to certain users that they are not welcome here.

Are you kidding? None of those make it the least bit clear to the users. HN is the most passive-aggressively moderated site I've ever seen. Also, hell-banning non-spammers is about the most cruel thing you can do. By extension of holding Pao responsible for all actions taken under her charge, I declare PG to be sociopathic, if not outright evil.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#446

Post by eli »

dj_axl wrote: post #401
eli wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think "the media" is intentionally causing confrontation as part of some collusion with Reddit to make money? Neither Reddit nor journalism generally is particularly profitable. And isn't painting all of the media in the same cynical light for the actions of, at most, a small minority pretty much exactly what you claim they did to you? I saw racist and sexist posts personally, so I know that's not a complete fabr…

> I saw racist and sexist posts personally Honestly Reddit in general could be taken as "racist and sexist" by an outsider. By an outsider. The humor tends to be sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top, and in-group. For example any references to /r/pyongyang can be written off, 99% of the time it's part of a dedicated running joke that's not intentionally malicious. Pao as Hitler is jarring? You seem naively unfami…

> Honestly Reddit in general could be taken as "racist and sexist" by an outsider.

Yeah. That's a problem. Probably Reddit's biggest problem.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#447

Post by [deleted] »

genericuser wrote: post #251
ElComradio wrote: post #100

PR that comes out of corporations cannot be trusted. We cannot trust Altman is being honest that he appreciated her efforts. We can't trust that her and her husband were in love. All of this that comes out of spokesmen is carefully crafted as a result of a numbers game. When do we hear "so and so CEO did a horrible job and was forced out by the board."? Never. So are we to believe there is no such thing as a terrible…

No one said give her a pass, it was simply said the 'vitriol was appalling.' That simply means that the denizens of the internet when taken as a collective are horrible people who can not voice criticism in a civil manner. Assuming she was completely horrible and a terrible CEO... Assuming that! How could someone's lack of ability to do their job (or anything else for that matter) make the type of death and rape thre…

[deleted]

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#448

Post by jrs99 »

oldmanjay wrote: post #423
jrs99 wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of the intention, they ARE both chinese. So is it really a stretch to see a racist element to this nick name? It is racist by default. I'm not saying that it is a greatly offensive nickname or even unfunny, but for someone to call it racist is not at all a stretch.

Is it racist to acknowledge that Ellen Pao is of Chinese ancestry? I don't get how but I don't get a lot of the modern sensitivities.

Certainly if you want to denigrate someone and you bring up their gender or ethnicity, it can be sexist or racist.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#449

Post by douche »

dasil003 wrote: post #367
axlprose wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you even follow the original parent's argument? He didn't just bring up "clickbait media" as a non-sequitur while defending reddit comments. He highlighted how everything in this whole mess so far can be explained through the lens of questionable media, and literally none of his analysis+critique has been addressed so far, all that's been done is point out how he sounded like some angry mob person. Please explain…

Saying that online activists are equally to blame as misogynists and racists for the devolution of civil dialog online is sort of like insisting on creationism getting equal media coverage to evolution on the basis of fairness.

If your plan to get rid of the trolls is to feed them by bringing their trolling out of the dark confines of message boards and trying to shame them in public, congratulations, you've fed the trolls, and inspired other proto-trolls (goblins, kobalds, I need a D&D person here...) to snicker in their caverns and sling their troll arrows at you.

If you start trying to troll the trolls, you're laying on a feast of HGH-laden troll-bait.

People have always been shitty to each other. The internet tends to act as a force multiplier for shittiness, allowing people to be shitty to each other at extreme distances, and with much improved protections from the immediate consequences. Once was a time, I hear, where if you insulted somebody in the public square, you had to be ready to drop the gloves if the insultee took it harshly. I dunno, I came in just at the very end of when it was considered acceptable for children to wrassle, and not grounds for throwing them, or maybe their parents, too, in jail.

Re: Ellen Pao Is Stepping Down as Reddit’s Chief

#450

Post by scrollaway »

tomjakubowski wrote: post #439
scrollaway wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like what? That she shut down a forum called "Fat people hate", where posters singled out the obese for online harrassment? You don't know me. You have no idea what my feelings are regarding FPH. Yet, you make assumptions. So now we got that out of the way, hi, I'm Jerry, and I hated FPH and didn't give a rat's arse about its shutdown. Had Pao made only that one decision in her two years as CEO, reddit would have b…

> Had Pao made only that one decision in her two years as CEO, reddit would have bigger problems on its hands. Pao wasn't CEO for even a full year.

You're right, I was confused because she joined reddit in 2013. My comment still applies.
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