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Love that all the companies (see also Google, Twitter) are utilizing the WW3-panic to sweep these announcements under the rug. How thoughtful! And props to App

Love that all the companies (see also Google, Twitter) are utilizing the WW3-panic to sweep these announcements under the rug. How thoughtful! And props to Apple for adding that Friday PR synergy to the mix! Edit: my best attempt at a good faith argument here is this: it was a move that was supposed to be in sync with Biden's SOFU comments on returning to the office, but other breaking news affected the plan.

draw_down 5y ago
n42 5y ago
are you suggesting they wait for the conflict in Ukraine to resolve before making announcements? your comment sounds paranoid.
- BrianOnHN 5y ago
  What a straw man. And thanks for the mental eval!
  - engineeringwoke 5y ago
    Love your attitude towards the odd comments. Keep it up dude
thisiscorrect 5y ago
It's interesting to consider the group psychology aspect. During the 2020 summer protests, many also said that the huge crowds were not spreading covid. Maybe this is similar. When there is a larger issue people are focusing on, concerns about covid get pushed to the backburner. The real test will come when the Ukraine-Russia war subsides.
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  "huge crowds were not spreading covid OUTDOORS" is the right take. Indoors is a recycled hellscape of germs. Viral load is a real thing. I went to several outdoor concerts and didn't catch covid however I'm going to continue to work remote.
  - BrianOnHN 5y ago
    It's easier to believe the singular "COVID isn't real" than it is to understand the plurality of viral load, HVAC, particulate sizes, mask ratings... That's the challenge.
- BrianOnHN 5y ago
  I'm sure the fact that protests are outside with the majority participants likely being mask wearers based on their affiliations also added to the risk calc.
- batekush 5y ago
  large crowds of people who do not take covid seriously, who socially disincentivize transmission precautions (e.g. sturgis) seem to spread covid. on the other hand, large crowds that do take covid seriously, and socially encourage those precautions, appear to not spread covid as much. where's the group psychology aspect?
SkinTaco 5y ago
I work at a company you've heard of that did something similar (their announcement was on HN) and, at least in my case, the announcements had been made internally a few weeks beforehand. It is always possible for there to be multiple plausible reasons for something, and the least generous assumptions can be frequently incorrect
- BrianOnHN 5y ago
  It's not about current employees as much as future recruiting. PR requires internal employees. That leads me to the logic that, for most companies, PR is targeted at non-employees.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
Apocryphon 5y ago
I forgot what Google's RTO policy is, but Twitter still allows fully remote work, it's more of an optional RTO.
- BrianOnHN 5y ago
  I've added that Twitter caveat IRL convos. It's an important distinction and one that I applied them for. That said, I still think all 3 PR departments subscribed to the same strategy, even though Twitter missed an opportunity to build positive PR b/c their policy is good.
giarc 5y ago
You can look at any announcement and say "utilizing mid-term elections to sweep these announcements under the rug... swap out mid-terms with holidays, COVID, hurricanes, natural disasters, oil price swings, etc etc etc. If you go looking for it, you will find it. Doesn't make it true though.
- BrianOnHN 5y ago
  Fast followers? Or do you think the decision was synchronized at the top?
jmull 5y ago
Doesn't it seem more likely this is related to changing covid conditions than war in Ukraine?
- BrianOnHN 5y ago
  There's "no COVID" in my state, so I don't feel qualified to comment on that.
DataJunkie 5y ago
At Google, not only are many still worried about COVID, but we just finished the complete shitshow known as Perf, there is war in Ukraine, so they thought this was a brilliant time to announce this as if it's supposed to "cheer us up" or something. I am really starting to question if my values align with Google's anymore.

draw_down 5y ago

n42 5y ago

are you suggesting they wait for the conflict in Ukraine to resolve before making announcements? your comment sounds paranoid.

BrianOnHN 5y ago
What a straw man. And thanks for the mental eval!
- engineeringwoke 5y ago
  Love your attitude towards the odd comments. Keep it up dude

thisiscorrect 5y ago

It's interesting to consider the group psychology aspect. During the 2020 summer protests, many also said that the huge crowds were not spreading covid. Maybe this is similar. When there is a larger issue people are focusing on, concerns about covid get pushed to the backburner. The real test will come when the Ukraine-Russia war subsides.

stjohnswarts 5y ago
"huge crowds were not spreading covid OUTDOORS" is the right take. Indoors is a recycled hellscape of germs. Viral load is a real thing. I went to several outdoor concerts and didn't catch covid however I'm going to continue to work remote.
- BrianOnHN 5y ago
  It's easier to believe the singular "COVID isn't real" than it is to understand the plurality of viral load, HVAC, particulate sizes, mask ratings... That's the challenge.
BrianOnHN 5y ago
I'm sure the fact that protests are outside with the majority participants likely being mask wearers based on their affiliations also added to the risk calc.
batekush 5y ago
large crowds of people who do not take covid seriously, who socially disincentivize transmission precautions (e.g. sturgis) seem to spread covid. on the other hand, large crowds that do take covid seriously, and socially encourage those precautions, appear to not spread covid as much. where's the group psychology aspect?

SkinTaco 5y ago

I work at a company you've heard of that did something similar (their announcement was on HN) and, at least in my case, the announcements had been made internally a few weeks beforehand. It is always possible for there to be multiple plausible reasons for something, and the least generous assumptions can be frequently incorrect

BrianOnHN 5y ago
It's not about current employees as much as future recruiting. PR requires internal employees. That leads me to the logic that, for most companies, PR is targeted at non-employees.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

Apocryphon 5y ago

I forgot what Google's RTO policy is, but Twitter still allows fully remote work, it's more of an optional RTO.

BrianOnHN 5y ago
I've added that Twitter caveat IRL convos. It's an important distinction and one that I applied them for. That said, I still think all 3 PR departments subscribed to the same strategy, even though Twitter missed an opportunity to build positive PR b/c their policy is good.

giarc 5y ago

You can look at any announcement and say "utilizing mid-term elections to sweep these announcements under the rug... swap out mid-terms with holidays, COVID, hurricanes, natural disasters, oil price swings, etc etc etc. If you go looking for it, you will find it. Doesn't make it true though.

BrianOnHN 5y ago
Fast followers? Or do you think the decision was synchronized at the top?

jmull 5y ago

Doesn't it seem more likely this is related to changing covid conditions than war in Ukraine?

BrianOnHN 5y ago
There's "no COVID" in my state, so I don't feel qualified to comment on that.

DataJunkie 5y ago

At Google, not only are many still worried about COVID, but we just finished the complete shitshow known as Perf, there is war in Ukraine, so they thought this was a brilliant time to announce this as if it's supposed to "cheer us up" or something. I am really starting to question if my values align with Google's anymore.