8 ms·

The real tragedy is that g+ wrecked Google. It was a nice place to work that I was proud of. They got scared of Facebook and threw out reason, taste, common sen

The real tragedy is that g+ wrecked Google. It was a nice place to work that I was proud of. They got scared of Facebook and threw out reason, taste, common sense, and ethics in an incompetent desperate rush to win Social. It was deeply saddening to watch it happen. Now the parasite is gone but too late for the host.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
gman83 8y ago
So now you work for Facebook like that's better?
- foo101 8y ago
  Why would you make such an unfounded assumption and ask a loaded question?
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - vageli 8y ago
    OP _does_ work for WhatsApp and is fairly well-known in general as being the creator of iTerm2.
    - pixelbath 8y ago
      Which means...what, exactly? That OP is not allowed to complain about the previous company because he/she works at a different company with its own problems?
      - vageli 8y ago
        > That OP is not allowed to complain about the previous company because he/she works at a different company with its own problems? I was addressing foo101 who stated that gman83 asked a loaded, unfounded question. The question is not unfounded because OP works for WhatsApp which is owned by Facebook.
  - gman83 8y ago
    Well it's true that he works for Facebook, and I found his comment a bit rich coming from someone who now works there. But I admit it was a dumb comment to make.
zestyping 8y ago
When I joined, Google was driven by wonder and idealism. Google+ was the onset of when Google became a fear-driven company. It was very sad to watch that shift.
aestetix 8y ago
The blame for that falls almost entirely on Vic Gundotra, the VP who was in charge of the Google+ project. From what I understand, many, many Googlers hated him, and actually left the company specifically because of him.
jmkd 8y ago
As an employee on another team, I remember at launch when the extended Plus team got flown to Hawaii to celebrate, around the time their marketing made its way on to the homepage. I sat incredulous, back in the office with my colleagues thinking how gross it was that an obvious failure from the off got rewarded and supported in such a manner. It marked a real shift in my personal perspective of the company. I realised much later that the team were effectively being rewarded for having being punished prior to launch. The offsite was an apology for the grotesque demands put on them during the extended crunch. The commitment to the product was so complete that nobody involved could see the wood for the trees, and we saw the damaging impact of reality distortion first hand.
- Gustomaximus 8y ago
  > The commitment to the product was so complete that nobody involved could see the wood for the trees, and we saw the damaging impact of reality distortion first hand. This is where I find this 'you must have passion for your job & company' to be problematic. You get this worker cult environments where how dare someone use a competitor typer scenarios. Or managers surrounding themselves with yes men. A bit of neutrality in job attitude is good. You still take pride in doing a good job but the pride should be in your actions, not the company/product.
mcv 8y ago
No, Google wrecked Google+. It was very promising in its early days and many considered it the best social network at the time, but Google kept mismanaging it: forcing YouTube users on it which nobody wanted, removing popular features, unwanted redesigns, etc. Google had something really nice. Sure, it wasn't as big as Facebook, but the idea that something needs to be as big as Facebook to count as successful is incredibly harmful. Google+ was successful; it was home to lots of vibrant communities, it launched businesses, it brought people together and helped them organise cool stuff. It's just not what Google wanted it to be, and they destroyed it trying to force it to become something it wasn't. And dropping Google+ (after dropping a number of other Google applications), has made people very distrustful about Google. This was a group of Google-loving early adopters who now distrust anything that Google does.
dekhn 8y ago
Agree with this. I worked at Google for years and really enjoyed it. When Larry and Vic and Urs pushed social on everybody and tied bonuses to it (I worked in tech infra on cloud stuff, far from social) it was a big FU to the employees.
- zestyping 8y ago
  Yup. :'(

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

gman83 8y ago

So now you work for Facebook like that's better?

foo101 8y ago
Why would you make such an unfounded assumption and ask a loaded question?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- vageli 8y ago
  OP _does_ work for WhatsApp and is fairly well-known in general as being the creator of iTerm2.
  - pixelbath 8y ago
    Which means...what, exactly? That OP is not allowed to complain about the previous company because he/she works at a different company with its own problems?
    - vageli 8y ago
      > That OP is not allowed to complain about the previous company because he/she works at a different company with its own problems? I was addressing foo101 who stated that gman83 asked a loaded, unfounded question. The question is not unfounded because OP works for WhatsApp which is owned by Facebook.
- gman83 8y ago
  Well it's true that he works for Facebook, and I found his comment a bit rich coming from someone who now works there. But I admit it was a dumb comment to make.

zestyping 8y ago

When I joined, Google was driven by wonder and idealism. Google+ was the onset of when Google became a fear-driven company. It was very sad to watch that shift.

aestetix 8y ago

The blame for that falls almost entirely on Vic Gundotra, the VP who was in charge of the Google+ project. From what I understand, many, many Googlers hated him, and actually left the company specifically because of him.

jmkd 8y ago

As an employee on another team, I remember at launch when the extended Plus team got flown to Hawaii to celebrate, around the time their marketing made its way on to the homepage. I sat incredulous, back in the office with my colleagues thinking how gross it was that an obvious failure from the off got rewarded and supported in such a manner. It marked a real shift in my personal perspective of the company. I realised much later that the team were effectively being rewarded for having being punished prior to launch. The offsite was an apology for the grotesque demands put on them during the extended crunch. The commitment to the product was so complete that nobody involved could see the wood for the trees, and we saw the damaging impact of reality distortion first hand.

Gustomaximus 8y ago
> The commitment to the product was so complete that nobody involved could see the wood for the trees, and we saw the damaging impact of reality distortion first hand. This is where I find this 'you must have passion for your job & company' to be problematic. You get this worker cult environments where how dare someone use a competitor typer scenarios. Or managers surrounding themselves with yes men. A bit of neutrality in job attitude is good. You still take pride in doing a good job but the pride should be in your actions, not the company/product.

mcv 8y ago

No, Google wrecked Google+. It was very promising in its early days and many considered it the best social network at the time, but Google kept mismanaging it: forcing YouTube users on it which nobody wanted, removing popular features, unwanted redesigns, etc. Google had something really nice. Sure, it wasn't as big as Facebook, but the idea that something needs to be as big as Facebook to count as successful is incredibly harmful. Google+ was successful; it was home to lots of vibrant communities, it launched businesses, it brought people together and helped them organise cool stuff. It's just not what Google wanted it to be, and they destroyed it trying to force it to become something it wasn't. And dropping Google+ (after dropping a number of other Google applications), has made people very distrustful about Google. This was a group of Google-loving early adopters who now distrust anything that Google does.

dekhn 8y ago

Agree with this. I worked at Google for years and really enjoyed it. When Larry and Vic and Urs pushed social on everybody and tied bonuses to it (I worked in tech infra on cloud stuff, far from social) it was a big FU to the employees.

zestyping 8y ago
Yup. :'(