Epilogue of my time working at Twitter • Hacker News Board

Re: Epilogue of my time working at Twitter

#91

Post by teach » Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 7:44 PM UTC

SllX wrote: post #60

So this looks like it is a repost of Esther Crawford’s original Tweet, and it’s a shame this is the linked version. Here is the original Tweet: https://twitter.com/esthercrawford/status/168429104868268441... Now I’m not one to promote the use of Twitter, but in this case Esther actually had a very nice video at the end where she reads out what her post said in her own voice and I think it comes out better that way. I…

But it appears that this is Esther's own blog, and there's a 15-minute-long YouTube video linked at the top.

Also, I thought you couldn't read tweets these days unless you're logged in.

Re: Epilogue of my time working at Twitter

#92

Post by WheatMillington » Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 7:45 PM UTC

SkipperCat wrote: post #69

This is a very well written article and I really enjoyed reading it. However, I do think the author has romanticized how a privately owned company has exploited, abused and treated their workers like objects. Looking back of the past months of Elon's tenure, its been shocking to see how he violated so many legal and social covenants regarding how an employer should treat staff. The true insult of it all is that Musk…

The author, being independently wealthy and in a safe position, didn't have the same downside risk as most of the people around them. Amusingly the author lacks a certain empathy through this romanticism, ironic given other parts of the article.

Re: Epilogue of my time working at Twitter

#93

Post by droopyEyelids » Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 7:46 PM UTC

croes wrote: post #41

>I think of life as a game, and being at Twitter after the acquisition was like playing life at Level 10 on Hard Mode I may feel hard but it's still easy mode compared to poor people in third world countries or people in warzones, especially if it doesn't matter to you if you get fired or not.

The trouble with this line of thinking is that it negates almost any problem someone can suffer.

Starving to death? At least you're not starving to death while being physically tortured every moment of the day!

The problems people face and their suffering is real, and should be respected, even if there is someone who has it worse somewhere else.

Re: Epilogue of my time working at Twitter

#94

Post by djbusby » Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 7:47 PM UTC

rockbruno wrote: post #24

I never worked at Twitter but I can relate to a lot of what was mentioned about the culture, especially the "you have to be a politician" bit. Seems like all large tech companies are the same after all.

Not just tech. Any company...more people means more politics.

Re: Epilogue of my time working at Twitter

#95

Post by conradfr » Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 7:48 PM UTC

bhauer wrote: post #33

JJMcJ wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spend time on Twitter. It certainly seems less interesting and more annoying than it did before EM took over.

Aside from the feature changes, it seems about the same to me. I think it largely depends on who you follow and whether you use the "Following" or "For you" tab. I recommend the "Following" tab since this allows you to manage your feed by, unsurprisingly, selecting who you follow.

The "verified" users being the top comments makes reading any moderately popular thread a bore.

Re: Epilogue of my time working at Twitter

#96

Post by itronitron » Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 7:50 PM UTC

renewiltord wrote: post #72

TigeriusKirk wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never been more burned out and depressed than when I was in a low performance culture. Completely wore me out.

Same. Possibly personality styles. When low performance, gap between personal identity of skill and output causes me pain. Prefer high-speed cultures. Feel accelerated by peers. In moments of doubt, feel invigorated by peers. Good feeling.

My experience has been that low performance cultures tend to have a lot of cynical naysayers that like to block things from happening. High performance cultures tend to have optimistic enablers who also know how to do a lot of things and are happy to share their knowledge.

Re: Epilogue of my time working at Twitter

#97

Post by veec_cas_tant » Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 7:50 PM UTC

nancyhn wrote: post #63

bloopernova wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

musk has a vast amount of power and influence due to his wealth, links to several corporations, links to other rich people, and his control of a social media site. I believe that someone with that much power has an obligation, a responsibility to improve the world for humanity. Whether elected or not. he instead chooses to do what he does. That is why I dislike him. he could offer so much more but messes around "trol…

Literally who has improved humanity more this century? I ask with all seriousness. Electric cars and rockets would not be where they are if he had chosen a different and much less difficult path.

Bill Gates, that is the easy answer if we limit the conversation to only the ultra-wealthy

Re: Epilogue of my time working at Twitter

#98

Post by Dig1t » Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 7:51 PM UTC

Balgair wrote: post #88

> Instead he’d poll Twitter, ask a friend, or even ask his biographer for product advice I'm sorry, he has a biographer following him around now?

Isn't Walter Isaacson writing a biography on him?

Isaacson did the same thing with Steve Jobs, he followed him around for a long time, getting a sense for his day to day, on top of interviewing the people that spent the most time with him. That's one thing that makes Isaacson one of the best biographers ever, he goes to the source whenever possible and gets candid interviews with the right people.

Re: Epilogue of my time working at Twitter

#99

Post by itronitron » Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 7:53 PM UTC

WheatMillington wrote: post #92

SkipperCat wrote: post #69

This is a very well written article and I really enjoyed reading it. However, I do think the author has romanticized how a privately owned company has exploited, abused and treated their workers like objects. Looking back of the past months of Elon's tenure, its been shocking to see how he violated so many legal and social covenants regarding how an employer should treat staff. The true insult of it all is that Musk…

The author, being independently wealthy and in a safe position, didn't have the same downside risk as most of the people around them. Amusingly the author lacks a certain empathy through this romanticism, ironic given other parts of the article.

If someone wrote a work of fan fiction of someone's experience at Twitter over the past year I believe it would read exactly like this epilogue.

Re: Epilogue of my time working at Twitter

#100

Post by SllX » Thu, Jul 27, 2023, 7:56 PM UTC

teach wrote: post #91

SllX wrote: post #60

So this looks like it is a repost of Esther Crawford’s original Tweet, and it’s a shame this is the linked version. Here is the original Tweet: https://twitter.com/esthercrawford/status/168429104868268441... Now I’m not one to promote the use of Twitter, but in this case Esther actually had a very nice video at the end where she reads out what her post said in her own voice and I think it comes out better that way. I…

But it appears that this is Esther's own blog, and there's a 15-minute-long YouTube video linked at the top. Also, I thought you couldn't read tweets these days unless you're logged in.

I looked earlier for it and didn’t see the video. Maybe she added it later or it didn’t load initially on my iPad?

Doesn’t really matter if it’s in the Medium post or the Twitter post, the video is worth watching/listening to.

Also logging in is apparently not a barrier to seeing Twitter now, at least through a direct link. I originally followed a TechMeme link and just double-checked, I’m not logged in anywhere.