I have been thinking on your remark and trying to figure out how best to frame what I think you mean.
My first thought was viewing it basically like I am the customer of a place of business, and I realized that doesn't fit with what I think you mean. I wonder if that is where some people have trouble -- feeling like "hn member = hn customer" and then what follows is "the customer is always right" and seeing this like a personal playground, like a restaurant they visit or a movie theater they bought tickets to (which would fit with the demands for features, etc). So perhaps "a place where I do business" is a phrasing that more clearly conveys the attitude I think you mean. And I really like that.
Should one communicate with snarky one-liners in the workplace?
Or be mean?
Or bait arguments?
The YC partners use HN as a business tool. Founders and investors do as well. When a person shows HN their side project, it's not always just for fun.
I think treating HN like a workplace is the best way to understand the cultural expectations. HN is about helping people be productive (but not of course exclusively).
I was a homemaker for many years, then I worked at a Fortune 500 company for five years. Unfortunately, my firsthand experience of a "workplace" was a somewhat Dilbert-esque experience where I was often surrounded by people whose antics appalled me. I would not wish to replicate that here. Thank you for your remarks. They are very helpful to me.
I wasn't promoting poor workplace behavior or corporate culture. Fortunately, HN doesn't have enough layers to simulate a cubicle farm.
Rather something analogous to an ideal workplace in a slightly Platonic sense. Thus, treating others decently carries more weight because it facilitates their productivity.
I did not mean to imply you were suggesting something negative. Quite the contrary. I meant your positive view was a helpful antidote to my personal experiences.
Comments
I have been thinking on your remark and trying to figure out how best to frame what I think you mean.
My first thought was viewing it basically like I am the customer of a place of business, and I realized that doesn't fit with what I think you mean. I wonder if that is where some people have trouble -- feeling like "hn member = hn customer" and then what follows is "the customer is always right" and seeing this like a personal playground, like a restaurant they visit or a movie theater they bought tickets to (which would fit with the demands for features, etc). So perhaps "a place where I do business" is a phrasing that more clearly conveys the attitude I think you mean. And I really like that.
Thank you for sharing that thought.
Should one communicate with snarky one-liners in the workplace?
Or be mean?
Or bait arguments?
The YC partners use HN as a business tool. Founders and investors do as well. When a person shows HN their side project, it's not always just for fun.
I think treating HN like a workplace is the best way to understand the cultural expectations. HN is about helping people be productive (but not of course exclusively).
I was a homemaker for many years, then I worked at a Fortune 500 company for five years. Unfortunately, my firsthand experience of a "workplace" was a somewhat Dilbert-esque experience where I was often surrounded by people whose antics appalled me. I would not wish to replicate that here. Thank you for your remarks. They are very helpful to me.
I wasn't promoting poor workplace behavior or corporate culture. Fortunately, HN doesn't have enough layers to simulate a cubicle farm.
Rather something analogous to an ideal workplace in a slightly Platonic sense. Thus, treating others decently carries more weight because it facilitates their productivity.
I did not mean to imply you were suggesting something negative. Quite the contrary. I meant your positive view was a helpful antidote to my personal experiences.