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Lol this is such an HN coded comment: * Opposition to surveilance? Check * Stereotyping and hating on management types? Check * Cynical flippant comment? Che

Lol this is such an HN coded comment: * Opposition to surveilance? Check * Stereotyping and hating on management types? Check * Cynical flippant comment? Check * Small jab at X? Check I think worker surveillance is pretty awful myself but I just don't think this comment will lead to high quality replies. There's very little light and mostly heat in this comment but it will jive with the community culture strong enough to generate a bunch of grievance-oriented replies. The purpose of this comment is mostly to remind readers that we can strongly dislike something without reaching for low-effort ragebait to criticize it. Honestly, worker surveillance is so dumb it should be simple to dump on it factually.

baxtr 1y ago
That’s probably the best compliment I’ve received in a while. Thanks!
eyesofgod 1y ago
[flagged]
kgwxd 1y ago
Cool. Now analyze the format and purpose of your own comment.
- HPsquared 1y ago
  Recursive algorithms are so satisfying.
soulofmischief 1y ago
People are allowed to be cynical, allowed to take jabs at the clown show that is X, allowed to criticize VC and surveillance culture. You should consider contributing to the discussion instead of making off-topic, passive-aggressive comments policing what people are allowed to like, discussing stereotypes while directly stereotyping OP and this community in general.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  > People are allowed to be cynical Sure. But it’s appropriate to point out that it’s low cognitive effort venting. OP could have done that with more tact, and more constructively. But it’s ironic that turning this into a “what have VCs done for you lately” rant plays into their advantage by turning a system that involves certain skills and differentiated abilities into an ersatz caste system, where apparently the idea of taking a client to dinner is somehow unfathomable for mere engineers.
surgical_fire 1y ago
It should be expected that the relationship of the uktra-rich tech elites and the labor class that works for them would be adversarial. If anything I think it is positive that people are more conscious of their own class. You vaguely gesture at this being somehow negative. We can strongly dislike something while recognizing the forces behind that something as well. Employee surveillance does not exist in a vacuum, it exists in the same continuum of RTO, of mass layoffs while corporations make record profits, etc and so forth.
- Karrot_Kream 1y ago
  I think if we use the "should be expected" idea to excuse bad discourse then bad discourse will consistently win. The issues most worth discussing are usually the most controversial ones after all. The only reason I made this comment is because as HN has been getting a lot bigger post-2022 Reddit API changes, I've been noticing a lot more low effort rage/engagement bait in the comments. The mods here have added the "Don't be curmudgeonly" guideline recently to combat this trend but I think the bait is really degrading the quality of conversation here to the point where this might as well just be any old generic comments section on the net. At some point HN falls into the same problem that every newspaper comments section, Reddit, and Nextdoor fell into: farming ragebait for approval removes the incentives needed for quality discourse and crowds non-ragebait out. I think some of this too is that the right now HN is growing faster than the mod team can deal with the comments. I think it's largely a losing battle, but I'll try because I've spent too much on this site to not try. But I will be honest I am spending a lot less time here because of this decrease in quality. (I'm also cognizant that I broke an HN guideline, namely "Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community.")
  - surgical_fire 1y ago
    Ironically, I don't think very highly of HN community, but probably not for the same reasons as you. Suffice to say I thought poorly of it prior to 2022. Alas, communities are what people make of them, and they change as people enter and leave those communities.

baxtr 1y ago

That’s probably the best compliment I’ve received in a while. Thanks!

eyesofgod 1y ago

[flagged]

kgwxd 1y ago

Cool. Now analyze the format and purpose of your own comment.

HPsquared 1y ago
Recursive algorithms are so satisfying.

soulofmischief 1y ago

People are allowed to be cynical, allowed to take jabs at the clown show that is X, allowed to criticize VC and surveillance culture. You should consider contributing to the discussion instead of making off-topic, passive-aggressive comments policing what people are allowed to like, discussing stereotypes while directly stereotyping OP and this community in general.

JumpCrisscross 1y ago
> People are allowed to be cynical Sure. But it’s appropriate to point out that it’s low cognitive effort venting. OP could have done that with more tact, and more constructively. But it’s ironic that turning this into a “what have VCs done for you lately” rant plays into their advantage by turning a system that involves certain skills and differentiated abilities into an ersatz caste system, where apparently the idea of taking a client to dinner is somehow unfathomable for mere engineers.

surgical_fire 1y ago

It should be expected that the relationship of the uktra-rich tech elites and the labor class that works for them would be adversarial. If anything I think it is positive that people are more conscious of their own class. You vaguely gesture at this being somehow negative. We can strongly dislike something while recognizing the forces behind that something as well. Employee surveillance does not exist in a vacuum, it exists in the same continuum of RTO, of mass layoffs while corporations make record profits, etc and so forth.

Karrot_Kream 1y ago
I think if we use the "should be expected" idea to excuse bad discourse then bad discourse will consistently win. The issues most worth discussing are usually the most controversial ones after all. The only reason I made this comment is because as HN has been getting a lot bigger post-2022 Reddit API changes, I've been noticing a lot more low effort rage/engagement bait in the comments. The mods here have added the "Don't be curmudgeonly" guideline recently to combat this trend but I think the bait is really degrading the quality of conversation here to the point where this might as well just be any old generic comments section on the net. At some point HN falls into the same problem that every newspaper comments section, Reddit, and Nextdoor fell into: farming ragebait for approval removes the incentives needed for quality discourse and crowds non-ragebait out. I think some of this too is that the right now HN is growing faster than the mod team can deal with the comments. I think it's largely a losing battle, but I'll try because I've spent too much on this site to not try. But I will be honest I am spending a lot less time here because of this decrease in quality. (I'm also cognizant that I broke an HN guideline, namely "Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community.")
- surgical_fire 1y ago
  Ironically, I don't think very highly of HN community, but probably not for the same reasons as you. Suffice to say I thought poorly of it prior to 2022. Alas, communities are what people make of them, and they change as people enter and leave those communities.