I was actually hoping you'd jump in on this thread. This seems to be closer to the prevailing opinion I'm seeing here, on Twitter, HN, Reddit, etc. But I'm intrigued to watch it all play out (if not similarly reticent).
I find this fascinating in general, and it sort of makes sense. Those who are already somewhat socially fulfilled have less of a desire to "re-invent", so social platforms do, in fact, seem to be run by the outsiders. It's not necessarily a bad thing depending on what anti-social means in the context.
I'm definitely pro-social but fairly introverted and it gives me a certain perspective which informs the work I do in this space. It's fascinating to hear the different feedback on certain concepts or ideas from different people who fall on different parts of the spectrum from anti-social to pro-social (or whatever) and introvert to extrovert. I don't want to generalize, but it does seem like certain tech scenes attracts a lot of anti-social folks, regardless of where they fall on other spectrums. And it's kind of scary.
"How do I get friends Siri?"
"Build a friendship app"
"How do I get a girlfriend Siri?"
"Build a dating app"
way.
It's the opposite of healthy. Look at the damage everywhere rn.
Inexperienced, insecure, mental issues, social issues, connection issues, fits, mistakes & bad decisions. Personality distortion everywhere. The better you are at tech, the more likely you should work on other skills, away from machines.
Your (anyone) experience informs all areas of the site, so better/more experience is worth more than more code. Someone else should be coding & you should be traveling to places where your users are & experiencing what they do. Before, not after.
The whole point is to do things that scare you, that force you to grow, learn, evolve. Many tech people I've met want to have more fun/be more normal social but resort to comfort zones. They can be rich, smart & successful & still not be invited to the cool parties (not something I care about but many do & many pretend not to). Unhappiness in tech is very high, I don't follow their lead.
{Authoritarian} tech screams things like 'diversity', 'inclusion' & 'friendliness' but is extremely monolithic & mono-cultured. Mostly sitting at home/office waiting for likes. It's cover. Good tech is as opinion-less as possible (do you want plumbers & electricians & supermarkets to decide for you?). TCP/IP for conservatives only? Any edict is authoritarian by nature so less is more. Shouters = worse offenders. Perfect social media = manic depression.
I prefer 20yr old kids with a small world view, microdosing & mental issues to not be telling 70yr olds how to live mostly because some people with money thought they could code.
If you can barely hold a good party, entertain a small table, do fun group activities, I will not consider you "social" regardless of your tweets.
What tech leadership needs is more pasta grannies, disco dancers & old wise heads from remote places or whatever.
All big tech people should find someone cool (not as in fancy garms, cool like Peter) to help them normalize a bit. Grounding. Surround yourself in non-tech people.
It's better than it was.
Mostly I don't use social media unless I am a cat, car brand or something. It's work.
REDACTED*
*Otherwise I will burn through your code of conduct like an acetylene torch.
The world's most antisocial people run social.
The greediest run money.
The creepiest run info.
FB is not evil, the entire culture was built on an ancient burial ground or something.
I was actually hoping you'd jump in on this thread. This seems to be closer to the prevailing opinion I'm seeing here, on Twitter, HN, Reddit, etc. But I'm intrigued to watch it all play out (if not similarly reticent).
I find this fascinating in general, and it sort of makes sense. Those who are already somewhat socially fulfilled have less of a desire to "re-invent", so social platforms do, in fact, seem to be run by the outsiders. It's not necessarily a bad thing depending on what anti-social means in the context.
I'm definitely pro-social but fairly introverted and it gives me a certain perspective which informs the work I do in this space. It's fascinating to hear the different feedback on certain concepts or ideas from different people who fall on different parts of the spectrum from anti-social to pro-social (or whatever) and introvert to extrovert. I don't want to generalize, but it does seem like certain tech scenes attracts a lot of anti-social folks, regardless of where they fall on other spectrums. And it's kind of scary.
Let's try generalizing. 🤣
It makes sense in the:
"How do I get friends Siri?"
"Build a friendship app"
"How do I get a girlfriend Siri?"
"Build a dating app"
way.
It's the opposite of healthy. Look at the damage everywhere rn.
Inexperienced, insecure, mental issues, social issues, connection issues, fits, mistakes & bad decisions. Personality distortion everywhere. The better you are at tech, the more likely you should work on other skills, away from machines.
Your (anyone) experience informs all areas of the site, so better/more experience is worth more than more code. Someone else should be coding & you should be traveling to places where your users are & experiencing what they do. Before, not after.
The whole point is to do things that scare you, that force you to grow, learn, evolve. Many tech people I've met want to have more fun/be more normal social but resort to comfort zones. They can be rich, smart & successful & still not be invited to the cool parties (not something I care about but many do & many pretend not to). Unhappiness in tech is very high, I don't follow their lead.
{Authoritarian} tech screams things like 'diversity', 'inclusion' & 'friendliness' but is extremely monolithic & mono-cultured. Mostly sitting at home/office waiting for likes. It's cover. Good tech is as opinion-less as possible (do you want plumbers & electricians & supermarkets to decide for you?). TCP/IP for conservatives only? Any edict is authoritarian by nature so less is more. Shouters = worse offenders. Perfect social media = manic depression.
I prefer 20yr old kids with a small world view, microdosing & mental issues to not be telling 70yr olds how to live mostly because some people with money thought they could code.
If you can barely hold a good party, entertain a small table, do fun group activities, I will not consider you "social" regardless of your tweets.
What tech leadership needs is more pasta grannies, disco dancers & old wise heads from remote places or whatever.
youtube.com/user/pastagrannies
All big tech people should find someone cool (not as in fancy garms, cool like Peter) to help them normalize a bit. Grounding. Surround yourself in non-tech people.
It's better than it was.
Mostly I don't use social media unless I am a cat, car brand or something. It's work.
Well said.
Thanks Ifenna,
My slogan was "We Make Things", I saw your bio so I followed you on twitter, but you beat me to it. 🤣