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Awesome. The idea that companies are apolitical can't die fast enough. No person-to-person platform can reach scale and be apolitical. You end up with companie

by RickS 9y ago

Awesome. The idea that companies are apolitical can't die fast enough. No person-to-person platform can reach scale and be apolitical. You end up with companies like reddit and twitter who are too timid to make a stand about what their rules really are, and then waffle until they're forced to deal either with the PR nightmare of suddenly changing directions at scale, or the PR nightmare of allowing shitbags nobody wants to deal with to run rampant on the platform because they don't want to change directions at scale. If you really want to support "anything goes" you have to be willing to be 2006 /b/. Turns out the legal, advertising, and financial implications of this decision are painful (even for 4chan). If you're not willing to be /b/, you've default accepted that free speech is off the table. If that's the case, the best thing you can do is actually spend thought and effort on your principles, and on enforcing them swiftly and evenhandedly. Speech is free on the internet, and it should be. Speech is not free on a single company's website, and it shouldn't be. Curation is a very important form of product design, and curation of users (or lack thereof) is no exception.

deleted 9y ago
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kkirsche 9y ago
Probably a dumb question but what does /b/ reference here?
- simtel20 9y ago
  It refers to the general conversation area in 4chan where most of the crazy there happened.
flukus 9y ago
> No person-to-person platform can reach scale and be apolitical. Companies that are too political can't scale at all, they put to many people off. Most overtly political business like feminist cafe's or LGBT bookshops die pretty quickly. In the tech world, if I could go back half a decade and know how political github would become I and many other people would have never signed up. > The idea that companies are apolitical can't die fast enough. Why do you want to make life more complicated? When I go get my morning coffee I don't want to know what the companies opinion on gay marriage is. When I go watch a movie I don't want to know what the makers opinions are on progressive taxation. When I buy a phone I don't want to know the manufacturers opinion on global warming.
- saghm 9y ago
  > Companies that are too political can't scale at all If being against white supremacy is "too political", then what you're really saying is that companies shouldn't be political at all—which is a reasonable viewpoint, but I think the phrasing "too political" is a bit misleading.
- salvar 9y ago
  When I stay at an Airbnb I'd like to know that my host isn't a KKK member. I'm sure most of Airbnb's customer's feel this way. I'd say that Airbnb's services are much more personal (in a person-to-person way) than coffee, movies or phones.
  - flukus 9y ago
    > When I stay at an Airbnb I'd like to know that my host isn't a KKK member. I'm sure most of Airbnb's customer's feel this way. I've got some bad news then: you don't know that. Unless the host has swastikas on their forehead or explicit tells people then neither Airbnb or it's customers know that. Every single time you book there is a chance you'll be staying in the home of a KKK member. But as shown by recent hot topics, most people prefer to be blissfully unaware.
    - salvar 9y ago
      > I've got some bad news then: you don't know that. Thanks for the snark, it really helps the discussion. Let me rephrase to include some nuance: When I stay at an Airbnb I'd like to think that the company has some interest in the host not being an openly card-carrying KKK member, and would take reasonable action to remove those hosts from their services, as they seem to have done in this instance. I realise that this does not mean there is no chance that I'll be staying in the home of a KKK member, but thanks for the tip.

by RickS 9y ago

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

kkirsche 9y ago

Probably a dumb question but what does /b/ reference here?

simtel20 9y ago
It refers to the general conversation area in 4chan where most of the crazy there happened.

flukus 9y ago

> No person-to-person platform can reach scale and be apolitical. Companies that are too political can't scale at all, they put to many people off. Most overtly political business like feminist cafe's or LGBT bookshops die pretty quickly. In the tech world, if I could go back half a decade and know how political github would become I and many other people would have never signed up. > The idea that companies are apolitical can't die fast enough. Why do you want to make life more complicated? When I go get my morning coffee I don't want to know what the companies opinion on gay marriage is. When I go watch a movie I don't want to know what the makers opinions are on progressive taxation. When I buy a phone I don't want to know the manufacturers opinion on global warming.

saghm 9y ago
> Companies that are too political can't scale at all If being against white supremacy is "too political", then what you're really saying is that companies shouldn't be political at all—which is a reasonable viewpoint, but I think the phrasing "too political" is a bit misleading.
salvar 9y ago
When I stay at an Airbnb I'd like to know that my host isn't a KKK member. I'm sure most of Airbnb's customer's feel this way. I'd say that Airbnb's services are much more personal (in a person-to-person way) than coffee, movies or phones.
- flukus 9y ago
  > When I stay at an Airbnb I'd like to know that my host isn't a KKK member. I'm sure most of Airbnb's customer's feel this way. I've got some bad news then: you don't know that. Unless the host has swastikas on their forehead or explicit tells people then neither Airbnb or it's customers know that. Every single time you book there is a chance you'll be staying in the home of a KKK member. But as shown by recent hot topics, most people prefer to be blissfully unaware.
  - salvar 9y ago
    > I've got some bad news then: you don't know that. Thanks for the snark, it really helps the discussion. Let me rephrase to include some nuance: When I stay at an Airbnb I'd like to think that the company has some interest in the host not being an openly card-carrying KKK member, and would take reasonable action to remove those hosts from their services, as they seem to have done in this instance. I realise that this does not mean there is no chance that I'll be staying in the home of a KKK member, but thanks for the tip.