4 ms·

> I'm surprised at how often the "About Us" isn't actually "About Anyone", there's no names, it's all just "Us" and "We". I tend to assume that a lot of times

> I'm surprised at how often the "About Us" isn't actually "About Anyone", there's no names, it's all just "Us" and "We". I tend to assume that a lot of times this is because "We" is a lie, it's "Me" and they want to avoid revealing that it's someone's side project. I could be completely wrong. I am a lot.

rhizome 7y ago
Not to jump on you specifically, but seriously, why does this matter? I'm not saying "don't think about this thing I don't think people should talk about," I'm saying, "in what way is pronoun selection important?"
- rootusrootus 7y ago
  It might matter to your customer. Especially if you are trying to succeed in the B2B market. My side project is a piece of software I am confident has real value, and therefore the price won't be chump change. My biggest early hurdle will be convincing companies that they can trust I will be there to support them. I won't lie, but I'm not going to advertise how small the operation is.
jnfr 7y ago
I wouldn't go as far as to say "We" is a lie especially with malicious intent. In short, "we" can be an appropriate way to refer to a company as a whole. Btw this is a hotly discussed topic among solo founders (whether to use "I" or "We") so it's nothing you can be "wrong" about!
- smnrchrds 7y ago
  One academic solved the problem of not wanting to use "I" and simultaneously not wanting to refer to himself as "we" in a rather creative way. Meet F.D.C. Willard, the first-ever feline to co-author a physics paper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._D._C._Willard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._D._C._Willard
AmericanChopper 7y ago
> "We" is a lie, it's "Me" and they want to avoid revealing that it's someone's side project. Or if it’s a small group of co-founders and they don’t want to paint a target on their back, and have their employers suing for the IP they created on weekends and evenings.

rhizome 7y ago

Not to jump on you specifically, but seriously, why does this matter? I'm not saying "don't think about this thing I don't think people should talk about," I'm saying, "in what way is pronoun selection important?"

rootusrootus 7y ago
It might matter to your customer. Especially if you are trying to succeed in the B2B market. My side project is a piece of software I am confident has real value, and therefore the price won't be chump change. My biggest early hurdle will be convincing companies that they can trust I will be there to support them. I won't lie, but I'm not going to advertise how small the operation is.

jnfr 7y ago

I wouldn't go as far as to say "We" is a lie especially with malicious intent. In short, "we" can be an appropriate way to refer to a company as a whole. Btw this is a hotly discussed topic among solo founders (whether to use "I" or "We") so it's nothing you can be "wrong" about!

smnrchrds 7y ago
One academic solved the problem of not wanting to use "I" and simultaneously not wanting to refer to himself as "we" in a rather creative way. Meet F.D.C. Willard, the first-ever feline to co-author a physics paper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._D._C._Willard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._D._C._Willard

AmericanChopper 7y ago

> "We" is a lie, it's "Me" and they want to avoid revealing that it's someone's side project. Or if it’s a small group of co-founders and they don’t want to paint a target on their back, and have their employers suing for the IP they created on weekends and evenings.