Comment by matrix_overload | Hacker News Reader

Comment by matrix_overload | Hacker News Reader

matrix_overload

I think, a healthy dose of skepticism is in order. This news traces down to one LinkedIn post [0] from one person claiming that them "and the rest of the team" is no longer with the company and are looking for work.

They have 3 clear motivations to exaggerate the situation:

1. Disgruntled employee wanting the employer to look dumb.

2. Oversensationalize the news to attract more attention to their job search.

3. Oversell their role in the company in hopes of getting more interviews.

For what it's worth, "me and the rest of the security team" could be one person with a handful on interns doing an experimental project in the security area. Like, trying to achieve 100% formal validation of a massive codebase, on top of existing engineering practices. Such ambitious projects do get axed at the first sign of a downturn, and it would not be a reason for panic.

I would exercise caution and stick to quantifiable facts before concluding that Patreon is run by idiots.

Patreon would, in turn, have a motivation to deny the layoff, so the truth is somewhere in between. A good independent metric would be other verifiable LinkedIn users confirming that they got sacked as well.

[0] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/emetcalfe_opentowork-activity...

Exactly. There are far too many people who are ready to wave their pitchforks around on claims made with the slightest evidence. I would have thought HN would have a higher burden of proof for such claims than the rest of social media landscape.

This culture is fostered deliberately because the blood-thirsty crowd is a good weapon in the hands of those who control the information flows.

Ironically, the comment you replied to stayed on top of the thread for about 30 minutes, gaining upvote after upvote, and then instantly got kicked down to the bottom, while still showing the original score.

This is very different from the usual time+score-based ordering and looks 100% like a manual override. Strange response to trying to be objective.

Are you asserting their is some sort of conspiracy specifically targeting you in this thread because...? What angle are you getting at?

For what it's worth, every other comment I looked at which appeared above yours was made after yours (excepting two made an hour prior with dozens of replies and presumably plenty of votes). Other comments can get upvotes too.

No, I am claiming there is an unwritten rule of manually downranking comments that go against the atmosphere of blissful naivity on HN. And I think it is going to impact the overall discussion quality in the long term as we shift focus from facts to rumors.

>as we shift focus from facts to rumors.

Sort of like... claiming there is a conspiracy about downvoting comments? Seems like a non-factual claim with no evidence (also could be called a rumor).

The simple answer would be that some people agreed with you and then later some other people disagreed. Combine that with people posting other comments after you, and other comments having significantly more engagement than yours.

Seems awfully short-sighted to announce a huge easily disproved lie as you are looking for a security position. None of those motivations make sense in todays security job market.

I agree, and I am confused how the parent comment could think any of those 3 motivations make any sense.

If the person who made the claim is lying, which is going to be pretty obvious with a little bit of time, they've flushed their own career down the drain. Risky move with little potential gain.

With you on skepticism, and if the idea is to reserve judgement because we don’t know the facts (how many, when, why..)

Not with you on accusing posters of having those 3 motivations. Maybe they do, but I would most certainly not assume it. Need facts.

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