[slantyyz]

Serious question - can someone please explain the purpose/appeal of these "Why I Left X" blog posts/videos?

I'm from a generation where you didn't publicize this kind of stuff, and I'm not quite sure I understand the intent/social value of such posts/videos outside of the "whistleblowing" types of posts. Absent of any context, these posts/videos just strike me as self promotion.

[minimaxir]

> I'm from a generation where you didn't publicize this kind of stuff

Which is incidentally the exact reason why the posts are popular. There has been a taboo on hiring/firing literature, and only recently have people become more transparent with information that is very valuable. Having unique perspectives makes you stand out, although admittingly in the case of posts which make it to the top of HN, it's often the interview-from-hell from a Big 4 or a "my incredible journey" exit. (both of which are tropes that are not applicable in my blog post)

[thesuitonym]

Because blogging and publishing videos is easier than ever. Nothing has changed about the culture.

In 1972, if someone left a company, they would willingly tell anybody who cared to ask. It is a frequent question during the interview process because it is insanely useful in helping to understand a potential hire. You didn't publicize this kind of stuff because the effort of typing it and Xeroxing it for your zine wasn't worth the reward of a reader getting some sort of insight into the company culture.

But now publishing that thought requires almost no effort beyond just typing it or saying it. That's it. It's just a personal story.

[slantyyz]

>> You didn't publicize this kind of stuff because the effort of typing it and Xeroxing it for your zine wasn't worth the reward of a reader getting some sort of insight into the company culture.

At least for my cohort, that's not the reason why you didn't do it. You didn't do it because it was career limiting. There was value placed on a person who had a sense of discretion.

I'm sure a lot of HR types Google their candidates. I'm wondering if any would drop a candidate for having posted these things.

[danso]

And this is why it is interesting: the fact that someone is putting their name to something that could seriously damage their future career potential. It is ironic that you dismiss this as self-promotion -- of course it is -- and then point out that it could be career-limiting.

[slantyyz]

It was considered career limiting for my generation. Don't know if it still is now, or if the younger generations simply don't care.

Outside of the "Why I Left" posts, a lot of younger people put a lot of content on social media that my age peer group would consider "career limiting".

[danso]

I think you have to see it in a technological context, as in, what does technology enable people to do that it didn't during your generation? Because it's very likely your generation would be doing the same thing had your younger years experienced the same kind of technological enabling.

Napster and LimeWire were big in my younger years and it allowed kids to illicitly amass music collections beyond what most middle-income kids could in a previous generation. Does that mean my generation were inherently more appreciative of music and/or more unethical, had Internet file-sharing never come to pass?

[slantyyz]

>> Napster and LimeWire were big in my younger years and it allowed kids to illicitly amass music collections beyond what most middle-income kids could in a previous generation. Does that mean my generation were inherently more appreciative of music and/or more unethical, had Internet file-sharing never come to pass?

The only thing that Napster and Limewire did was to allow you to get more faster. You guys were no worse than my generation who shared vinyl and recorded "personal copies" onto cassette tapes.

When I was young, schools used your "permanent record" as a scare tactic. Having a black mark on your school record could prevent you from getting certain jobs (the one example cited by my high school principal was getting into the police academy). This stuff would get laughed at today.

On the other hand, today's version of your "permanent record" (i.e., anything you've said or done online) is broader in scope and for the most part, available to everyone. While it seems like everyone is aware of the potential consequences, it also seems like people are also less concerned about them as well. I'm just amazed at some of the stuff I see on sites that use Facebook comments where everyone is pretty much posting with their real name.

[thesuitonym]

I guess it depends on the nature of why you left. For instance: I would not post such a thing (or at least I would do so anonymously) if I had a very negative experience with a company.

However, if the reason I left was simply one of cultural differences, or some other not-quite-a-fit scenario, I would certainly have no qualms attaching my name to it. Like I said, that's often something you're asked about in an interview anyway.

[elefanten]

Self-promotion is exactly what they're contextualized as in the article. These are aspiring entertainment media personalities.

edit: Unless you meant solely gp's context of an engineer posting about a similar topic. I defer on that, I was talking about the BuzzFeed employees.

[CM30]

I think it's self promotion in both cases. A lot of people who put out these articles on how bad their working conditions were seem to be trying to turn their woes into a z-list internet celebrity lifestyle. They want to turn the controversy from these 'leaving' articles and videos into a larger social media presence and montly Patreon bucks.

Look at that woman who got fired after complaining about the conditions at Yelp for example. She tried to turn the situation into a personal brand.

It's the internet version of people that try and become Z-list celebrities through reality TV shows.

[gdulli]

> these posts/videos just strike me as self promotion

Vanity blogging and self promotion seem to be inevitable side effects of the frictionless nature of publishing on the internet and the lack of will or resources to do thorough moderation on aggregators with public contribution.