10 ms·

What Meta Does to Retain Me

40 points by swyx 5y ago

wintermutestwin 5y ago
>The company is facing real scrutiny right now. It takes resolve to work hard through it, but I know my work does good for people who rely on us to be good stewards of their data. /s ???
- wintermutestwin 5y ago
  Maybe it is a bit tacky to reply to my own post, but it was a short quip and I figured I'd add some detail without muddying the clarity of my OP. A free market, capitalistic society depends on a strong legal framework with adequate enforcement. My data belongs to me and I should have the choice to set its price and sell it if I want (or not). Facebook's constant theft of data (to call out one of FB's many misdeeds) highlights a blatant failure of that legal framework. If you work for FaceCrook, you support their crooked endeavors and that's your choice - you have plenty of opportunities to earn a living that don't support such socially destructive actors.
- javajosh 5y ago
  It's an ambiguous statement. A good steward of users' data might mean that you ensure 100% uptime at scale, and minimize unauthorized exfil (this is probably what the OP works on). Yet another type of stewardship is to be transparent about what you collect, why, and with whom you share it. Yet another is to be transparent about how you choose to manipulate people's behavior, both online and off. This is, of course, where Facebook fails spectacularly. But its not inconsistent with OP's words.
- klyrs 5y ago
  Replace "steward" with "shepherd" and I'd be satisfied.
VerminOctopus1 5y ago
They pay you a lot of money, so you stay. I think this is well understood.
- fxtentacle 5y ago
  Well, it seems to be more than that: "High pay, free food, endless perks, business travel, free gear, extravagant parties and events. I really feel like a rockstar here."
  - HL33tibCe7 5y ago
    Basically boils down to money in the end Even the “good people” part, which transitively reduces down to money too
jawerty 5y ago
Is this an ad?
- klyrs 5y ago
  The paid-for bias is extremely transparent, at least.
emptysongglass 5y ago
"The people at this company actually believe in the mission of bringing the world closer together. They recognize and embrace the huge responsibility it puts on us.” I just don't understand how very smart people can so passionately believe in a closed loop. The metaverse will never immanentize until it is a protocol. A single company in charge will never exist in perpetuity unless you subscribe to PKD's "the Empire never ended". "Nothing gold can stay" is the better measure of a single company espousing a single vision for all. Protocols not products. Surely some of these very smart people at Meta see that their baby must be let go before it can touch the hearts and minds of all humans everywhere.
- phyrex 5y ago
  That’s literally what Zuckerberg emphasized over and over in his talks though. What makes you assume that the folks at Meta won’t be developing such a protocol?
  - plussed_reader 5y ago
    Monetization and the pursuit thereof; they need to forgo the profit motive. I don't think they're able.
    - adventured 5y ago
      Why would they need to forgo the profit motive? The goal would be to retain their present prime position, transported into the Metaverse. They don't have to own the Internet and its protocols to generate $44b in operating income every year. By helping to establish the Metaverse, they'll aim to lay down a system that makes monetization possible, which they can take advantage of with their resources. It's quite simple and straight-forward. When you're integral to establishing a new system, you get to help form its inner workings, you get influence in setting the rules for how it works.
  - emptysongglass 5y ago
    Facebook is not a protocol. Messenger started as interoperable with XMPP then poof took it away. Look at what corporations/people/nations do not what they say.
imron 5y ago
> I’ve been here for almost three years > ... > I’ve been at the company longer than almost 70% of people, That seems like a staggering amount of attrition
- ethansinjin 5y ago
  Meta’s internal “you’ve been here longer than X% of the company” metric does not give credit to total tenure (ie. boomerangs), so IMO it’s highly misleading as a measure of attrition.
- bcherny 5y ago
  Or, hiring.
  - marricks 5y ago
    Or, more likely, both.
- jakenberg 5y ago
  The referral bonus must be off the charts... good luck to the author.
- eachro 5y ago
  These stats include interns so they're always more insane than they really are.
ryanwhitney 5y ago
> I was hired by Facebook (now Meta) in 2019 > I’ve been at the company longer than almost 70% of people Apparently they’re not doing much? I would expect this from either a company rapidly scaling up, or one with almost everyone jumping ship.
- k8t 5y ago
  Attrition is low and they're rapidly scaling up. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/FB/meta-platforms/number-of-employees https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/FB/meta-platforms/... They've said in recent earnings calls that attrition during the pandemic has been lower than normal. Lower than Meta even wants, since it means people who aren't aligned with the company are deciding to stay.
- skybrian 5y ago
  It's a growing company. It looks like the number of Facebook employees went up 60% or so since then. [1] At that rate, it's mathematically impossible for there not to be 60/160 = 37% of employees newer than him, even if nobody left. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/273563/number-of-facebook-employees/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/273563/number-of-faceboo... [Edit: fixed calculation]
KarlKemp 5y ago
Now we finally know what all the nameless goons working the Space Laser in James Bond movies tell themselves.
Liron 5y ago
It’s nice to see a post that acknowledges the obvious truth that Meta is a great company with great people that does great things. Sure they do bad things too, but calling them bad and evil is usually all I ever see on HN and Twitter.
- mwt 5y ago
  What obvious truth is acknowledged here? - They pay extremely well and offer great benefits to their engineers. - They (not coincidentally) are able to hire great talent. - That their platforms offer as much reach as any other company None of this is new information and neither "great company" nor "does great things" follow from what's provided here.
  - Liron 5y ago
    Yes, those are obvious important truths, but weird to cite without related truths that shed more light on why Meta has the money, power and influence it does. Like that people there are smart, believe in the vision, care to do a good job. And that users love the products. If you’re summarizing positive bullet points from the article, you’ve only listed 3 of about 10.
    - mwt 5y ago
      I'm pretty much listing off the subheaders, none of which I dispute nor seem to be disputed by the general consensus. What is still unclear, however, is how to draw an arrow from "I love working here" to "the product is great." I think everybody here has experiences in companies/roles that are large and/or opaque enough to muddy that cause-and-effect.
- jiqiren 5y ago
  It is very likely my dad will die from COVID, cancer, or heart failure thanks to Facebooks relentless stream of promoting lies across the platform. facebook is great? Facebook is guilty of facilitating charlatans and grifters to hurt many more people.
JaimeThompson 5y ago
>I know my work does good for people who rely on us to be good stewards of their data. That is the advertisers I assume as it doesn't appear to be the case for the actual users of the various FB products.
layer8 5y ago
> The people at this company actually believe in the mission of bringing the world closer together. That’s… actually a bit scary.
ykevinator2 5y ago
throwanem 5y ago
> [people] do the right thing at the cost of their reputation You tell me that and expect me to believe the rest? Get that bag, sure. But don't lie to yourself and don't lie to me about what you're supporting in the process.
- jplasmeier 5y ago
  The whole article is written like an ad. I wouldn’t take any of it at face value.
  - throwanem 5y ago
    That it costs people their reputation to try to do the right thing at Facebook, sure, I believe that much no problem. Right there with you about the rest.
jmspring 5y ago
A lot of us working in tech have it pretty well with salaries well above the norm, flexibility that isn't allowed to those at places like Amazon fulfillmet, benefits above many those working union jobs. That said, there is a very visible entitlement, especially those that chase TC uber alles. I changed roles recently after a decade long term at a company I never thought I would work for. I left because I wanted some additional challenges that my current role didn't allow for as well as technologies outside what I helped grow. I left some flexibility, got offered new growth opportunities and will see what comes over the next couple of years. Meta, Google, and Amazon, if you have any indication you are looking around, are companies that will reach out. I've talked with Amazon on and off for a long time. I have more respect for the teams, hiring managers, etc. from 10 years ago than any of them now. They will do a lot of things short of lying to get someone in the door. Google, yeah no. Their onsite policy as well as hoops you have to go through around open source (unless you are super high profile) just aren't worth it. Meta - even the recruiter had a hard time making excuses up as various scandals roll out. For the rank and file, do what's right for you. For those with clout, you have leverage others may not have. For now, for me, I'm dealing with a bit of a new world in domain I know. Retention will be based off growth and learning, not idiot perks to keep buts in seats as long as they can every day or the highest dollar possible.
- stormbrew 5y ago
  > Google, yeah no. Their onsite policy as well as hoops you have to go through around open source (unless you are super high profile) just aren't worth it. Did you mean Apple here? Given that it's the only FAANG other than netflix you didn't mention and this seems like a much better description of Apple.
  - jmspring 5y ago
    I can only speak to those companies I have spoken with. I use apple products, but haven't really been interested in their open positions.
    - stormbrew 5y ago
paulgb 5y ago
It’s interesting to contrast the experience around the physical office between Jk’s post and Lincoln’s “why I left” post (linked by Jk). Jk joined before covid, remembers the physical office, and currently gets some face-to-face time with teammates. Lincoln joined remotely and never got to meet his team. It seems like this was a big reason Lincoln left, and a factor in why Jk stays.
devney 5y ago
"The people at this company actually believe in the mission of bringing the world closer together. They recognize and embrace the huge responsibility it puts on us." Bro if that were true then the end product of Facebook would be significantly different. Seems like dude stays at this company that pays him well because, as he says, - that's not true - that's blatantly, superlatively not true - They let him play with the lives of billions of people - And they pay him well with good perks. Yeah sorry JK Jensen, I read your post and all it says is you're greedy and avoidant. You love the great pay and great perks, and you lie to yourself about the impact you're having.
thr0wawayf00 5y ago
> The people at this company actually believe in the mission of bringing the world closer together. I'm sure this is true, but that's not the point. Lots of people chose to do wrong things due to the belief in their mission. The Russians believe they're doing the right thing in Ukraine right now, does that justify their actions, the death and destruction? People always believe they're doing the right thing, whether or not it's actually true. Corporations just make it really easy to convince yourself that what you're doing has a positive impact because they have entire teams of people whose job it is to create that messaging. We all have the capacity to lie to ourselves, and I'm sure getting treated like a "rockstar" helps to avoid reality, as the author points out. If you still wonder why people work at Facebook, here's your answer. They, like so many others out there, believe the lies they manufacture themselves to perpetuate this system. They're hooked on their own supply.
- mrkramer 5y ago
  >If you still wonder why people work at Facebook, here's your answer. I think the primary incentive is money; if it wasn't for the money they would work for some nonprofit or be self-employed but the thing is nor nonprofit nor self-employment can earn you the money that Facebook can pay you unless you really "make it" by being self-employed. My assumption is majority of people are incentivized by money not by the cause but me personally I would rather try to "bring people closer together" by doing my thing than believe in corporate bullshit that Facebook feeds you with day in, day out.
  - goldcd 5y ago
    I suspect that a great salary helps attract/retain - but (and I'm not a rockstar coder who has to worry about this) - but out of the FAANGs, Facebook on the surface looks to be the least interesting. There's the big social media silo and the Oculus and Whatsapp acquisitions - but nothing I look at and think "it would be cool to work on that". Just feels similar to some of the old guard like ebay - a dominant company that makes and I'm sure can pay well, but nothing I'd cut off my left arm to work on.
    - 5y ago
jplasmeier 5y ago
I found this piece revolting. The author feigns a conscience so that you too, conscientious engineer, can stomach working for the modern day equivalent of big tobacco. To be clear I don’t have a problem with anyone who works at Meta, but I do have a problem with taking the moral high ground in doing so. Admit it’s the wrong thing to do but too fun/lucrative to pass up, your life and that of the people around you will benefit.
- trowawee 5y ago
  Seriously, just say "I like money and interesting technical problems and don't really care about the bad stuff FB has done/is doing/will do." At least people who work at Exxon and Raytheon and Altria (the artist formerly known as Phillip Morris) don't publish little screeds about how important their work is, and how they're just misunderstood.
- hotpotamus 5y ago
  I've been around the block a few times, but I've never ever heard anyone tell me they don't deserve whatever money they've got. And I mean everyone from day laborer to executive to thief; they're all the heroes of their own story and they can always justify their actions.
- heywoodlh 5y ago
  Yeah, I tried hard to read this post as un-judgmentally as I could and found it very difficult to agree with how "righteous" it came off. It made me feel like I was metaphorically gagging reading the following quotes: > The people at this company actually believe in the mission of bringing the world closer together. > I have seen people at various levels of the company fight for the interests and safety of the billions of people who use our services > people who rely on us to be good stewards of their data That being said, I can completely respect staying for an intellectually stimulating environment, loving the content of your job, awesome compensation (autonomy, pay, etc.) and a company culture that feels comfortable to you. As other comments have said it feels comparable to someone working at the digital equivalent of a Big Tobacco company and sharing how what they are doing is beneficial. I would love to be checked on this which is why I am commenting: am I too in a bubble? Is my reaction to the perceived righteousness of Meta too much of me being overly anti-Meta? P.S. sincere thanks to the post's author for putting their views out there -- although I disagree with their stance I applaud them for feeling fulfilled and caring about what their company does
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
black_13 5y ago
stuntkite 5y ago
Fuck you. Leave that company and do your work somewhere else. I don't care if everyone thinks they are doing well, it's cancer. Your blog post is an embarrassment. Leave it up so we can see how well it ages. That's my opinion. My FU here is not a reflection of who you are as a person, but how I feel. You made me read you blog post, so my response is FU.

40 points by swyx 5y ago

>The company is facing real scrutiny right now. It takes resolve to work hard through it, but I know my work does good for people who rely on us to be good stewards of their data. /s ???

wintermutestwin 5y ago
Maybe it is a bit tacky to reply to my own post, but it was a short quip and I figured I'd add some detail without muddying the clarity of my OP. A free market, capitalistic society depends on a strong legal framework with adequate enforcement. My data belongs to me and I should have the choice to set its price and sell it if I want (or not). Facebook's constant theft of data (to call out one of FB's many misdeeds) highlights a blatant failure of that legal framework. If you work for FaceCrook, you support their crooked endeavors and that's your choice - you have plenty of opportunities to earn a living that don't support such socially destructive actors.
javajosh 5y ago
It's an ambiguous statement. A good steward of users' data might mean that you ensure 100% uptime at scale, and minimize unauthorized exfil (this is probably what the OP works on). Yet another type of stewardship is to be transparent about what you collect, why, and with whom you share it. Yet another is to be transparent about how you choose to manipulate people's behavior, both online and off. This is, of course, where Facebook fails spectacularly. But its not inconsistent with OP's words.
klyrs 5y ago
Replace "steward" with "shepherd" and I'd be satisfied.

VerminOctopus1 5y ago

They pay you a lot of money, so you stay. I think this is well understood.

fxtentacle 5y ago
Well, it seems to be more than that: "High pay, free food, endless perks, business travel, free gear, extravagant parties and events. I really feel like a rockstar here."
- HL33tibCe7 5y ago
  Basically boils down to money in the end Even the “good people” part, which transitively reduces down to money too

jawerty 5y ago

Is this an ad?

klyrs 5y ago
The paid-for bias is extremely transparent, at least.

emptysongglass 5y ago

"The people at this company actually believe in the mission of bringing the world closer together. They recognize and embrace the huge responsibility it puts on us.” I just don't understand how very smart people can so passionately believe in a closed loop. The metaverse will never immanentize until it is a protocol. A single company in charge will never exist in perpetuity unless you subscribe to PKD's "the Empire never ended". "Nothing gold can stay" is the better measure of a single company espousing a single vision for all. Protocols not products. Surely some of these very smart people at Meta see that their baby must be let go before it can touch the hearts and minds of all humans everywhere.

phyrex 5y ago
That’s literally what Zuckerberg emphasized over and over in his talks though. What makes you assume that the folks at Meta won’t be developing such a protocol?
- plussed_reader 5y ago
  Monetization and the pursuit thereof; they need to forgo the profit motive. I don't think they're able.
  - adventured 5y ago
    Why would they need to forgo the profit motive? The goal would be to retain their present prime position, transported into the Metaverse. They don't have to own the Internet and its protocols to generate $44b in operating income every year. By helping to establish the Metaverse, they'll aim to lay down a system that makes monetization possible, which they can take advantage of with their resources. It's quite simple and straight-forward. When you're integral to establishing a new system, you get to help form its inner workings, you get influence in setting the rules for how it works.
- emptysongglass 5y ago
  Facebook is not a protocol. Messenger started as interoperable with XMPP then poof took it away. Look at what corporations/people/nations do not what they say.

imron 5y ago

> I’ve been here for almost three years > ... > I’ve been at the company longer than almost 70% of people, That seems like a staggering amount of attrition

ethansinjin 5y ago
Meta’s internal “you’ve been here longer than X% of the company” metric does not give credit to total tenure (ie. boomerangs), so IMO it’s highly misleading as a measure of attrition.
bcherny 5y ago
Or, hiring.
- marricks 5y ago
  Or, more likely, both.
jakenberg 5y ago
The referral bonus must be off the charts... good luck to the author.
eachro 5y ago
These stats include interns so they're always more insane than they really are.

ryanwhitney 5y ago

> I was hired by Facebook (now Meta) in 2019 > I’ve been at the company longer than almost 70% of people Apparently they’re not doing much? I would expect this from either a company rapidly scaling up, or one with almost everyone jumping ship.

k8t 5y ago
Attrition is low and they're rapidly scaling up. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/FB/meta-platforms/number-of-employees https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/FB/meta-platforms/... They've said in recent earnings calls that attrition during the pandemic has been lower than normal. Lower than Meta even wants, since it means people who aren't aligned with the company are deciding to stay.
skybrian 5y ago
It's a growing company. It looks like the number of Facebook employees went up 60% or so since then. [1] At that rate, it's mathematically impossible for there not to be 60/160 = 37% of employees newer than him, even if nobody left. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/273563/number-of-facebook-employees/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/273563/number-of-faceboo... [Edit: fixed calculation]

KarlKemp 5y ago

Now we finally know what all the nameless goons working the Space Laser in James Bond movies tell themselves.

Liron 5y ago

It’s nice to see a post that acknowledges the obvious truth that Meta is a great company with great people that does great things. Sure they do bad things too, but calling them bad and evil is usually all I ever see on HN and Twitter.

mwt 5y ago
What obvious truth is acknowledged here? - They pay extremely well and offer great benefits to their engineers. - They (not coincidentally) are able to hire great talent. - That their platforms offer as much reach as any other company None of this is new information and neither "great company" nor "does great things" follow from what's provided here.
- Liron 5y ago
  Yes, those are obvious important truths, but weird to cite without related truths that shed more light on why Meta has the money, power and influence it does. Like that people there are smart, believe in the vision, care to do a good job. And that users love the products. If you’re summarizing positive bullet points from the article, you’ve only listed 3 of about 10.
  - mwt 5y ago
    I'm pretty much listing off the subheaders, none of which I dispute nor seem to be disputed by the general consensus. What is still unclear, however, is how to draw an arrow from "I love working here" to "the product is great." I think everybody here has experiences in companies/roles that are large and/or opaque enough to muddy that cause-and-effect.
jiqiren 5y ago
It is very likely my dad will die from COVID, cancer, or heart failure thanks to Facebooks relentless stream of promoting lies across the platform. facebook is great? Facebook is guilty of facilitating charlatans and grifters to hurt many more people.

JaimeThompson 5y ago

>I know my work does good for people who rely on us to be good stewards of their data. That is the advertisers I assume as it doesn't appear to be the case for the actual users of the various FB products.

layer8 5y ago

> The people at this company actually believe in the mission of bringing the world closer together. That’s… actually a bit scary.

ykevinator2 5y ago

throwanem 5y ago

> [people] do the right thing at the cost of their reputation You tell me that and expect me to believe the rest? Get that bag, sure. But don't lie to yourself and don't lie to me about what you're supporting in the process.

jplasmeier 5y ago
The whole article is written like an ad. I wouldn’t take any of it at face value.
- throwanem 5y ago
  That it costs people their reputation to try to do the right thing at Facebook, sure, I believe that much no problem. Right there with you about the rest.

jmspring 5y ago

A lot of us working in tech have it pretty well with salaries well above the norm, flexibility that isn't allowed to those at places like Amazon fulfillmet, benefits above many those working union jobs. That said, there is a very visible entitlement, especially those that chase TC uber alles. I changed roles recently after a decade long term at a company I never thought I would work for. I left because I wanted some additional challenges that my current role didn't allow for as well as technologies outside what I helped grow. I left some flexibility, got offered new growth opportunities and will see what comes over the next couple of years. Meta, Google, and Amazon, if you have any indication you are looking around, are companies that will reach out. I've talked with Amazon on and off for a long time. I have more respect for the teams, hiring managers, etc. from 10 years ago than any of them now. They will do a lot of things short of lying to get someone in the door. Google, yeah no. Their onsite policy as well as hoops you have to go through around open source (unless you are super high profile) just aren't worth it. Meta - even the recruiter had a hard time making excuses up as various scandals roll out. For the rank and file, do what's right for you. For those with clout, you have leverage others may not have. For now, for me, I'm dealing with a bit of a new world in domain I know. Retention will be based off growth and learning, not idiot perks to keep buts in seats as long as they can every day or the highest dollar possible.

stormbrew 5y ago
> Google, yeah no. Their onsite policy as well as hoops you have to go through around open source (unless you are super high profile) just aren't worth it. Did you mean Apple here? Given that it's the only FAANG other than netflix you didn't mention and this seems like a much better description of Apple.
- jmspring 5y ago
  I can only speak to those companies I have spoken with. I use apple products, but haven't really been interested in their open positions.
  - stormbrew 5y ago

paulgb 5y ago

It’s interesting to contrast the experience around the physical office between Jk’s post and Lincoln’s “why I left” post (linked by Jk). Jk joined before covid, remembers the physical office, and currently gets some face-to-face time with teammates. Lincoln joined remotely and never got to meet his team. It seems like this was a big reason Lincoln left, and a factor in why Jk stays.

devney 5y ago

"The people at this company actually believe in the mission of bringing the world closer together. They recognize and embrace the huge responsibility it puts on us." Bro if that were true then the end product of Facebook would be significantly different. Seems like dude stays at this company that pays him well because, as he says, - that's not true - that's blatantly, superlatively not true - They let him play with the lives of billions of people - And they pay him well with good perks. Yeah sorry JK Jensen, I read your post and all it says is you're greedy and avoidant. You love the great pay and great perks, and you lie to yourself about the impact you're having.

thr0wawayf00 5y ago

> The people at this company actually believe in the mission of bringing the world closer together. I'm sure this is true, but that's not the point. Lots of people chose to do wrong things due to the belief in their mission. The Russians believe they're doing the right thing in Ukraine right now, does that justify their actions, the death and destruction? People always believe they're doing the right thing, whether or not it's actually true. Corporations just make it really easy to convince yourself that what you're doing has a positive impact because they have entire teams of people whose job it is to create that messaging. We all have the capacity to lie to ourselves, and I'm sure getting treated like a "rockstar" helps to avoid reality, as the author points out. If you still wonder why people work at Facebook, here's your answer. They, like so many others out there, believe the lies they manufacture themselves to perpetuate this system. They're hooked on their own supply.

mrkramer 5y ago
>If you still wonder why people work at Facebook, here's your answer. I think the primary incentive is money; if it wasn't for the money they would work for some nonprofit or be self-employed but the thing is nor nonprofit nor self-employment can earn you the money that Facebook can pay you unless you really "make it" by being self-employed. My assumption is majority of people are incentivized by money not by the cause but me personally I would rather try to "bring people closer together" by doing my thing than believe in corporate bullshit that Facebook feeds you with day in, day out.
- goldcd 5y ago
  I suspect that a great salary helps attract/retain - but (and I'm not a rockstar coder who has to worry about this) - but out of the FAANGs, Facebook on the surface looks to be the least interesting. There's the big social media silo and the Oculus and Whatsapp acquisitions - but nothing I look at and think "it would be cool to work on that". Just feels similar to some of the old guard like ebay - a dominant company that makes and I'm sure can pay well, but nothing I'd cut off my left arm to work on.
  - 5y ago

jplasmeier 5y ago

I found this piece revolting. The author feigns a conscience so that you too, conscientious engineer, can stomach working for the modern day equivalent of big tobacco. To be clear I don’t have a problem with anyone who works at Meta, but I do have a problem with taking the moral high ground in doing so. Admit it’s the wrong thing to do but too fun/lucrative to pass up, your life and that of the people around you will benefit.

trowawee 5y ago
Seriously, just say "I like money and interesting technical problems and don't really care about the bad stuff FB has done/is doing/will do." At least people who work at Exxon and Raytheon and Altria (the artist formerly known as Phillip Morris) don't publish little screeds about how important their work is, and how they're just misunderstood.
hotpotamus 5y ago
I've been around the block a few times, but I've never ever heard anyone tell me they don't deserve whatever money they've got. And I mean everyone from day laborer to executive to thief; they're all the heroes of their own story and they can always justify their actions.
heywoodlh 5y ago
Yeah, I tried hard to read this post as un-judgmentally as I could and found it very difficult to agree with how "righteous" it came off. It made me feel like I was metaphorically gagging reading the following quotes: > The people at this company actually believe in the mission of bringing the world closer together. > I have seen people at various levels of the company fight for the interests and safety of the billions of people who use our services > people who rely on us to be good stewards of their data That being said, I can completely respect staying for an intellectually stimulating environment, loving the content of your job, awesome compensation (autonomy, pay, etc.) and a company culture that feels comfortable to you. As other comments have said it feels comparable to someone working at the digital equivalent of a Big Tobacco company and sharing how what they are doing is beneficial. I would love to be checked on this which is why I am commenting: am I too in a bubble? Is my reaction to the perceived righteousness of Meta too much of me being overly anti-Meta? P.S. sincere thanks to the post's author for putting their views out there -- although I disagree with their stance I applaud them for feeling fulfilled and caring about what their company does

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

black_13 5y ago

stuntkite 5y ago

Fuck you. Leave that company and do your work somewhere else. I don't care if everyone thinks they are doing well, it's cancer. Your blog post is an embarrassment. Leave it up so we can see how well it ages. That's my opinion. My FU here is not a reflection of who you are as a person, but how I feel. You made me read you blog post, so my response is FU.