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> Google's extreme overreaction to someone trying to get some very basic information about the other set of employees is what's concerning. Probably this is wh
by lionhearted 16y ago
> Google's extreme overreaction to someone trying to get some very basic information about the other set of employees is what's concerning.
Probably this is what set them off -
"...Most of them are people of color and are supposedly involved in the labor of digitizing information. I’m interested in issues of class, race, and labor, and so out of general curiosity I wanted to ask these workers about their jobs. I am aware of internal mechanisms for discussing labor issues with Google, and had no intention of defaming the company..."
A lot of times you can dig a hole for yourself that wasn't there by trying to explain things. Just a, "Was I breaking the rules? Okay, my bad, I didn't mean to. What was I doing? Eh, just screwing around with a video camera, exploring, I won't do it again if it's a problem" probably gets you out of there without hassle.
I mean, his simple explanation covers mentions race, labor, labor issues, defamation, legal contracts... that would scare the hell out of anyone. If he'd just written, "Hi guys, I'm just learning about Google and I like the company. I didn't mean any harm - I'll make sure not to do that again if it's against policy" then that probably would have been the end of it.
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- lionhearted 16y agoI deleted that comment before I saw you replied. But the gist of it: -It was a descriptive comment - looking at what probably happened, not judging right/wrong. -I think saying things like, "So you advocate ignoring issues of class, race and labor?" is bad form. If you think class, race, and labor is important, just say "I think it's an important issue." - insinuating someone else's beliefs leads to miscommunication, especially because people skim.
- JoeAltmaier 16y agoAgreed, sorry. I believe this is important to explore, and reading this thread saw only Google apologists of every stripe. I wanted (too badly) to see something substantive said. I should have just said it.
- JabavuAdams 16y agoI believe he's advocating not sabotaging oneself while examining issues of class, race, and labour. The author's ability to investigate this from the inside is now gone, because he got fired.
- exit 16y agoadvocating a self interested "keep your job, stupid" perspective is very much siding in favor of perpetuating the system
- JabavuAdams 16y agoI am advocating a "keep your job, so you can continue the investigation, stupid" perspective. I thought that was clear.
- lukeschlather 16y agoPersonally, what I got from that statement was that the author didn't think the issue was serious enough to pursue the investigation, and is an honest person so didn't feel it necessary to conceal his intent. Google totally made the wrong call here, because as you say, someone who was looking to write a deep, hard-hitting muckraking piece probably would have lied.