The State of Tech right now is dire. Here's why.
[Please note, this analysis is not complete, open to conversation on it. Some initial, informal thoughts on the industry. Though, my time is at my own discretion, naturally...]
These thoughts are in reference to the *most* recent examples of misogyny and immaturity on behalf of a founder, Tinder's co-founder Justin Mateen and his dust-up with ex-girlfriend and ousted co-founder Whitney Wolfe. But they are certainly not isolated or applicable only to this instance.
The issue of sexism in tech is not simply of management. The implications are far broader reaching due to the sheer number of people using products. The potential for global reach is not uncommon or unrealistic.
Much of it has been internalized. But unless you're completely unaware and sycophantic, it's nearly impossibly unpleasant to work in or around tech if you're a woman. Especially if you are an alpha....The disrespect of females at large is so engrained that we refuse to even address it as anything other than "natural." It's evident not only in the culture but its produce.
Apps like tinder. Where women are encouraged to essentially offer themselves up as commodities. And, before you offer the argument that "men do the same thing." Please consider why men are on the app, and if they'd be there if the women were not. Thanks.
And we are socially conditioned to consider this a success because of its steep user acquisition. But it's socially destructive and run -- like much of techs "successes" -- by manchildren with controlling and abusive tendencies.
By viewing this as a personal exception (i.e. "He's just a jerk!") we fail to understand that the belief systems at play are responsible for the dynamics of the apps themselves. They are engineered to be in the interest of their creators and those like them. (Here: Beta males who need a shortcut to sex).
Achieving market relevance is not sufficient proof that one is capable of sitting at the helm of a business that impacts a major segment of the population. The psychological maturity of men in their 20s is not developed, and this is yet another example, not an exception.
In the past, younger men were initiated into the world of business by older, more experienced men. The ease of building and deploying apps has made it possible to skip this part of traditional career trajectory. Not entirely a bad thing for commerce, but a very nefarious influence in the social development of the industry itself.
In my opinion, female leadership is resisted precisely because it is potent. But because it cannot be resisted in a direct manner, women are constantly met with passive-aggressive character assassination and resentment. It would be funny if it weren't so fucking common.
The underlying psychodynamics of these situations are rarely addressed. They're responsible and explanatory of the behavior. But they're also kryptonite to the self-referential wonderland that tech has become. Micro-scale disturbances bubbling up to macro-scale events.