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1. Is Mullenweg's recent behavior as bad as it seems to those of us not very familiar with WordPress? 2. If the behavior is as bad as it seems... Did Mullenweg
by neilv 2y ago
1. Is Mullenweg's recent behavior as bad as it seems to those of us not very familiar with WordPress?
2. If the behavior is as bad as it seems... Did Mullenweg always behave like this? (Like, hints of it, even if the circumstances at the time meant it wasn't very negative?) Or did it increase slowly over time, or change rather abruptly?
I think a national-politics-grade PR attack campaign is unlikely. So, if it wasn't that, I'm wondering whether the current character was always there, or there was some gradual or punctuated mental health change. That can often be helped and healed.
Separately, in any case, the larger WordPress community will hopefully realize the risks of dictators and kingdoms, and move to be more resilient. And not make the same mistake yet again, just with a new overlord, like we often do in tech consumption (and in human history, for that matter).
- ternnoburn 2y agoSeeing his posts here, it would appear that his behavior is indeed "as bad as it seems". A serial poster who cannot seem to disengage, took everything personally, and refused to try to understand other perspectives.
- badlibrarian 2y agoI think it started with Tumblr, perhaps behind the scenes. He then did some stupid things under pressure and said some highly inappropriate things in response to criticism. Like others who faced pushback from certain communities, he decided to double down on the arrogance and insensitivity. Unlike others, he doesn't have the charisma, goodwill, or video podcast to pull it off.
- spondylosaurus 2y agoAgreed that his bizarre Tumblr meltdown seemed to be a tipping point, but I still wonder what caused that.
- medimikka 2y ago> Did Mullenweg always behave like this? Matt, literally (he turned 21 then), came of age in the 2004-2006 Silicon Valley climate of the post-Bubble "Trümmerfrauen" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C3%BCmmerfrau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%C3%BCmmerfrau) movements that brought us things such as DHH and Rails, Matt and WordPress, Andreessen being himself, and others, all of which are now considered "problematic." I don't think Matt has changed. The climate these projects operate in, has. To some it's an eggshell walk, to others a game of signaling the right virtues while acting against them in secret, and to some a chance to achieve relevancy or dominance. And for all of them, there's a day of reckoning. 2005s proclivities have no similarities to 2025 dogma, and why should they. Neither did 2005 have any with 1985. Feel old, yet? Matt's Matt. That Matt was what was needed to kick a floundering piece of software (P2) into the kind of trajectory that helped transform it into the absolute unit of a social and communications portfolio, Automattic is today. That kind of Matt is a dinosaur in 2025. As were 1985 coders and founders in 2005. Heck, 2005 didn't look too kindly upon 1999 Silicon Valley mindsets. I guess Matt's "problem" is not, that he has changed. Matt's difficulty is, that he hasn't, and that 2025 is nothing like 2005. And, like DHH or Andreessen or Brendan Eich back in 2014, that can ... hurt. I'm too old to care, but I'd presume today's "golden child" will be a very problematic person in 2045, unless they learn to change or hide behind signals.
- neilv 2y agoThanks. I'm not sure I agree with all the points, but upvoted for the the info and thoughtful comments.
- medimikka 2y agoI am always willing to learn and change. What did I get wrong?
- squigz 2y ago> As were 1985 coders and founders in 2005. Heck, 2005 didn't look too kindly upon 1999 Silicon Valley mindsets. > I'd presume today's "golden child" will be a very problematic person in 2045, unless they learn to change or hide behind signals. It's probably worth pointing out that most people do actually grow up and change with the times.