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Friendly advice: As a current googler, you should refrain from posts like this, even with the “opinions are my own” disclaimer. You have access to internal in

Friendly advice: As a current googler, you should refrain from posts like this, even with the “opinions are my own” disclaimer. You have access to internal info that shapes your opinion, etc. Even an innocent post such as this is potentially a breach of your employment contract.

marcyb5st 4y ago
Thanks!
fragmede 4y ago
"Potentially" is doing a lot of work there. If the lawyers get involved, marcyb5st is going to have to explain themselves and their comment, but their lawyer is going to ask about what material information is in the comment. The social media policy requires the disclaimer, btw. Current Googler, opinions are my own.
- khazhoux 4y ago
  At Apple, you could get shown the door if a cranky VP catches you opining on why revenue is down. All I’m saying is: best to avoid any post that is related to company internals in any way. The “New York Times” rule and all that.
  - runnerup 4y ago
    It's probably slightly less risk, yes. But Google has a specific policy about this and they are following it to the letter. This is pretty low-risk as far as things go. Apple has very, very different policies on this than Google. Google is getting more conservative, but it's still a long way from Apple.
  - Godel_unicode 4y ago
    Apple is also very famously way out on their own with these kind of policies. That’s not real life.
seanmcdirmid 4y ago
> You have access to internal info that shapes your opinion, etc. Even an innocent post such as this is potentially a breach of your employment contract. As a Googler also, I question is this really true? The only thing I can think that you are referring to (internal info of something I'm not directly working on) is...memegen. Anything secret I'm exposed to is much more technical than business directions. When we are talking about the general economy, we really are just talking about the general economy.
- bushbaba 4y ago
  It is. You also tend to tarnish your company's brand with the ad-hoc remarks. Let your Marketing, PR, and CFO handle the comms on this.
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    > Let your Marketing, PR, and CFO handle the comms on this. Yes, Google doesn’t expect or allow SWEs to handle comms on anything. But we are also allowed to express are opinions on anything unrelated to our work. I can imagine that you work or live in a much more strict/stifling environment?
  - Godel_unicode 4y ago
    Don’t let your corporation muzzle you out of fear, especially one like Google which 1) has a specific policy about this and 2) is big enough that no post on HN is going to move the needle. Disclaimer: I don’t work at Google and my pseudonymous internet opinions are all definitely correct.

marcyb5st 4y ago

Thanks!

fragmede 4y ago

"Potentially" is doing a lot of work there. If the lawyers get involved, marcyb5st is going to have to explain themselves and their comment, but their lawyer is going to ask about what material information is in the comment. The social media policy requires the disclaimer, btw. Current Googler, opinions are my own.

khazhoux 4y ago
At Apple, you could get shown the door if a cranky VP catches you opining on why revenue is down. All I’m saying is: best to avoid any post that is related to company internals in any way. The “New York Times” rule and all that.
- runnerup 4y ago
  It's probably slightly less risk, yes. But Google has a specific policy about this and they are following it to the letter. This is pretty low-risk as far as things go. Apple has very, very different policies on this than Google. Google is getting more conservative, but it's still a long way from Apple.
- Godel_unicode 4y ago
  Apple is also very famously way out on their own with these kind of policies. That’s not real life.

seanmcdirmid 4y ago

> You have access to internal info that shapes your opinion, etc. Even an innocent post such as this is potentially a breach of your employment contract. As a Googler also, I question is this really true? The only thing I can think that you are referring to (internal info of something I'm not directly working on) is...memegen. Anything secret I'm exposed to is much more technical than business directions. When we are talking about the general economy, we really are just talking about the general economy.

bushbaba 4y ago
It is. You also tend to tarnish your company's brand with the ad-hoc remarks. Let your Marketing, PR, and CFO handle the comms on this.
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  > Let your Marketing, PR, and CFO handle the comms on this. Yes, Google doesn’t expect or allow SWEs to handle comms on anything. But we are also allowed to express are opinions on anything unrelated to our work. I can imagine that you work or live in a much more strict/stifling environment?
- Godel_unicode 4y ago
  Don’t let your corporation muzzle you out of fear, especially one like Google which 1) has a specific policy about this and 2) is big enough that no post on HN is going to move the needle. Disclaimer: I don’t work at Google and my pseudonymous internet opinions are all definitely correct.