7 ms·

That was my first instinct, to look what she had done/write before. I have to admit, being anti-woke myself (not American), that this article caught my eye: h

by samuel 4y ago

That was my first instinct, to look what she had done/write before. I have to admit, being anti-woke myself (not American), that this article caught my eye: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/tech-labor-progressive/ https://www.thenation.com/article/society/tech-labor-progres... Not the kind of person I would expect to be in charge of Signal, TBH.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
> Not the kind of person I would expect to be in charge of Signal, TBH. Actually, to me, it seems fairly consistent with Signal’s mission. She appears to be fairly qualified (including a mindset, as she is in a leadership role) and I wish her well.
- samuel 4y ago
  _The Signal Foundation’s mission is to develop open source privacy technology that protects free expression and enables secure global communication._ vs _The left must vie for control over the algorithms, data, and infrastructure that shape our lives._ I don't think these two staments match very well. Caesar's wife and all that.... Edit: BTW, I wish her well too. I don't think that she's going to hinder Signal's crypto just serve to the left's interests, but she hasn't a clean record.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
    Fair ‘nuff, but the second quote was taken out of context, as the whole article was about “taking control,” in order to stop manipulation. She is quite left-leaning, though, so I could see why some folks would find her ideology grating. I believe that a fair number of right-leaning people also use Signal.
  - Schroedingersat 4y ago
    Control in this context is very clearly control by the users and communities as opposed to government and corporations. Rainbow capitalism isn't left and never has been.
gsatic 4y ago
The type of people who can take on big tech barely exit. She has proved she can be a pain in the ass. These type of people are rare and they required. Most outside big tech who can do something are already bought and paid for by big tech. There are very few who have the combo of the right values, the ambition, the technical pedigree, the financial independence and are well networked. Which is why we have an ever expanding exploitative shit mountain range of tech being produced every year.
anfogoat 4y ago
I read a few paragraphs but had to stop for fear of wasting my time reading through the whole thing and coming up empty handed. To save some time: what parts of it specifically signal wokeness to you?
- samuel 4y ago
  I don't know if I have any chance of convincing you (or anyone) given the current political entrenchment, but I will try. That it took this long for Big Tech companies to take fascists seriously enough to remove some of them from social media should serve as a wake-up call: Elites tend to realize the dangers of fascism only when violent flash points hit close to home. It is workers and historically marginalized people who are—and always have been—the anti-fascist front line. If progressives are to ensure that technical systems aren’t yoked to a far-right agenda, they’ll need to stop relying on legislative maneuvering or entreaties to corporations and, together with these frontline actors globally, vie for control over the infrastructure itself. I read this as "I believe that Democrats have a grip on Big Tech" (that's the point of many trumpists, she seems to agree with them). But instead of presenting it as a bad thing, she thinks that it's not enough and the control over the infraestructure should be stronger.
  - kbelder 4y ago
    Wait, is that actually verbatim what she wrote? Not a uncharitable paraphrasing?
  - ShamelessC 4y ago
    There is a difference between uninformed/reactionary “woke” views and this, which is just someone explaining a few of their personal convictions and political beliefs. She’s not “parroting republicans” by saying tech is largely operated by people who are elite and (ostensibly) liberal. As far as I know, this isn’t controversial amongst liberals - just a projection made up by Fox News anchors and talk radio hosts as they shout “hypocrisy!” while being funded by the likes of Rupert Murdoch. Didn’t you read the part about fascism? She’s talking about republicans lol, you realize that right?
t6jvcereio 4y ago
> I have to admit, being anti-woke myself What does anti-woke mean? Also not American.
- ShamelessC 4y ago
  From this commenter, it means “I think America is exactly like Reddit/Twitter, because that is literally my only exposure to American life “.

by samuel 4y ago

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

> Not the kind of person I would expect to be in charge of Signal, TBH. Actually, to me, it seems fairly consistent with Signal’s mission. She appears to be fairly qualified (including a mindset, as she is in a leadership role) and I wish her well.

samuel 4y ago
_The Signal Foundation’s mission is to develop open source privacy technology that protects free expression and enables secure global communication._ vs _The left must vie for control over the algorithms, data, and infrastructure that shape our lives._ I don't think these two staments match very well. Caesar's wife and all that.... Edit: BTW, I wish her well too. I don't think that she's going to hinder Signal's crypto just serve to the left's interests, but she hasn't a clean record.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
  Fair ‘nuff, but the second quote was taken out of context, as the whole article was about “taking control,” in order to stop manipulation. She is quite left-leaning, though, so I could see why some folks would find her ideology grating. I believe that a fair number of right-leaning people also use Signal.
- Schroedingersat 4y ago
  Control in this context is very clearly control by the users and communities as opposed to government and corporations. Rainbow capitalism isn't left and never has been.

gsatic 4y ago

The type of people who can take on big tech barely exit. She has proved she can be a pain in the ass. These type of people are rare and they required. Most outside big tech who can do something are already bought and paid for by big tech. There are very few who have the combo of the right values, the ambition, the technical pedigree, the financial independence and are well networked. Which is why we have an ever expanding exploitative shit mountain range of tech being produced every year.

anfogoat 4y ago

I read a few paragraphs but had to stop for fear of wasting my time reading through the whole thing and coming up empty handed. To save some time: what parts of it specifically signal wokeness to you?

samuel 4y ago
I don't know if I have any chance of convincing you (or anyone) given the current political entrenchment, but I will try. That it took this long for Big Tech companies to take fascists seriously enough to remove some of them from social media should serve as a wake-up call: Elites tend to realize the dangers of fascism only when violent flash points hit close to home. It is workers and historically marginalized people who are—and always have been—the anti-fascist front line. If progressives are to ensure that technical systems aren’t yoked to a far-right agenda, they’ll need to stop relying on legislative maneuvering or entreaties to corporations and, together with these frontline actors globally, vie for control over the infrastructure itself. I read this as "I believe that Democrats have a grip on Big Tech" (that's the point of many trumpists, she seems to agree with them). But instead of presenting it as a bad thing, she thinks that it's not enough and the control over the infraestructure should be stronger.
- kbelder 4y ago
  Wait, is that actually verbatim what she wrote? Not a uncharitable paraphrasing?
- ShamelessC 4y ago
  There is a difference between uninformed/reactionary “woke” views and this, which is just someone explaining a few of their personal convictions and political beliefs. She’s not “parroting republicans” by saying tech is largely operated by people who are elite and (ostensibly) liberal. As far as I know, this isn’t controversial amongst liberals - just a projection made up by Fox News anchors and talk radio hosts as they shout “hypocrisy!” while being funded by the likes of Rupert Murdoch. Didn’t you read the part about fascism? She’s talking about republicans lol, you realize that right?

t6jvcereio 4y ago

> I have to admit, being anti-woke myself What does anti-woke mean? Also not American.

ShamelessC 4y ago
From this commenter, it means “I think America is exactly like Reddit/Twitter, because that is literally my only exposure to American life “.