It's also related to the lack of diversity in tech. Arcane complexity affords an easy way to exclude people from the club in a passive-aggressive indirect way.

It's also related to the lack of diversity in tech. Arcane complexity affords an easy way to exclude people from the club in a passive-aggressive indirect way. It's similar to how some religions use complicated systems of ritual, symbol, dietary restriction, etc. to determine who is 'in' and who is 'out'. The thing is there's nothing wrong with this per se. If the goal is to create a place where geeks can show off to other geeks, that's totally cool. But don't get angry or self-righteous when people who are not in an elitist exclusionary club do not use the tools of that club but instead choose 'mainstream' options like Slack, Facebook, etc. After all you are intentionally making it hard for them to use your tools. The complexity and arcana are screaming "go away! this is not for you!" I've personally grown to loathe arcane complexity for its own sake and see it as a sign not of "elite hax0r skillz" but of inferior intelligence and laziness. True genius simplifies, explains, clarifies, and creates things that are elegant because that is harder. Simplicity requires so much more effort and intelligence than complexity.