Support NeoGAF

[rjc571]

So how long until Facebook hires him?

 

[watershed]

Sounds like a terrible human being.

 

[TangerineCloud]

Why does twitter have a head of VR?

Gotta make the twitter harassment experience as immersive as possible.

 

[wutwutwut]

Please don't hate on a guy before knowing the full story.

After that horrible post he spent a long time studying the problem and proposing a real solution. http://greggopman.com/blog/

If you still want to hate on him after that, go ahead.

 

[adamsappel]

I read that first paragraph and thought, okay, nothing I haven't thought myself. Then, sheesh. That got awful pretty quick.

 

[Meatfist]

See ya. Ironic that NIMBY fuckheads like this one are one one the largest reasons that housing in the Bay Area is so unaffordable, which contributes even further to the homelessness problem

 

[Toxi]

You can preach compassion, equality, and be the biggest lover in the world, but there is an area of town for degenerates and an area of town for the working class. There is nothing positive gained from having them so close to us. It’s a burden and a liability having them so close to us. Believe me, if they added the smallest iota of value I’d consider thinking different, but the crazy toothless lady who kicks everyone that gets too close to her cardboard box hasn’t made anyone’s life better in a while.

Are we sure this guy isn't a cartoon character?

 

[wutwutwut]

Are we sure this guy isn't a cartoon character?

He apologized for the post and then actually tried to work on a fix.

 

[Alucrid]

Please don't hate on a guy before knowing the full story.

After that horrible post he spent a long time studying the problem and proposing a real solution. http://greggopman.com/blog/

i mean...maybe...but at the same time, not really

At the time, I was lashing out because I’d been attacked before and felt helpless. But regardless of my personal experiences, I generalized large sub-groups of people and showed the worst side of me in doing so. The media made me out to be a monster and zeroed in on the homeless angle. I don’t blame them, it made for a good story. And at the time I didn’t understand homelessness at all. Now, I could talk for hours about the causes of homelessness, the struggles faced by those trying to fight their way out, and all the data, which proves that 50% of the homeless were living normal functional lives just a year ago. But when I wrote my post I was arrogant and misguided on the subject.

It’s not that homelessness isn’t a problem in San Francisco and it’s not that I didn’t have every right in the world to vent my frustrations on Facebook with a group of people that was attacking me and my friends. The problem was the way I addressed the issue was insensitive, made over-reaching generalizations, and didn’t do justice to a homeless system in San Francisco, which is in desperate need of reform.

Unlucky for me, this post became viral, the media sensationalized it and painted me out to be the poster-boy for rich heartless monsters who hate the poor, and unfortunately this continued for almost a year. By all means, it was a bad situation.

But the worst part about it was that it distracted San Francisco from the necessary conversation our community needed to have on reforming our broken homeless policies. The whole city had their eye on the problem and nothing happened. Instead of focusing on ways we can improve things for the homeless, my post shifted the focus to how much of an asshole I was.

Now I didn’t know what I was doing at the time. I never meant any harm to anyone, I was just venting on Facebook. But words can weapons and it was a great opportunity for me to learn about the media, politics, and most importantly, myself. As bad as everything was, the experience turned my world upside and gave me a great opportunity to grow as a person. I spent the next year re-educating myself on homelessness, social issues, and everything in between. Along the way I constantly learned new things about myself, challenged a lot of my fundamental viewpoints, and came out the other side feeling like a more complete person.

In the end, I lost a lot of friends, I lost a lot of respect, went through a hellish year, but grew immensely. Learning from your mistakes is a lifelong journey. I’m not perfect, but this year has put me on a path to become a better man. In hindsight, I’m ashamed of what happened, but happy with how I dealt with it. And in the end, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

he understands he fucked up because people got mad at him, but it really seems like he missed why people were mad at him. not to mention all the woe is me shit like being made a "monster" by the media, having the right to vent his frustrations, chalking up the entire thing to viral media blowing it out of proportion or indignant that his post made people focus on him being an asshole rather than the homeless problem. that pretty much falls in line with his post thanking tech cruch for getting him fired. kinda, but not really.

 

[BlazinSkatinAxel]

Gopman is a friend of a friend. This was sad. He had more than atoned for his sins.

Wut? Did he volunteer at homeless shelters?

 

[adamsappel]

Please don't hate on a guy before knowing the full story.

After that horrible post he spent a long time studying the problem and proposing a real solution. http://greggopman.com/blog/

If you still want to hate on him after that, go ahead.

Oh, fuck him. His solution is building "homeless people cities" outside of his precious San Francisco.

 

[wutwutwut]

i mean...maybe...but at the same time, not really



he understands he fucked up because people got mad at him, but it really seems like he missed why people were mad at him. not to mention all the woe is me shit like being made a "monster" by the media, having the right to vent his frustrations, chalking up the entire thing to viral media blowing it out of proportion or indignant that his post made people focus on him being an asshole rather than the homeless problem. that pretty much falls in line with his post thanking tech cruch for getting him fired. kinda, but not really.

Yeah you can totally hate on him after that. But please recognize he's not a monster.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Maybe he can get a virtual job

 

[New002]

Please don't hate on a guy before knowing the full story.

After that horrible post he spent a long time studying the problem and proposing a real solution. http://greggopman.com/blog/

If you still want to hate on him after that, go ahead.

Personally I think this quote speaks volumes:

"Anddd I’m fired. Thanks TechCrunch.”

To me that sounds like someone that doesn't want to accept responsibility for their actions and may not truly understand why it is people are/were upset. Maybe I'm reading too much into those words, but that's my gut feeling anyways.

 

[wutwutwut]

Oh, fuck him. His solution is building "homeless people cities" outside of his precious San Francisco.

I live in SF. I don't think his solution is great but the current situation benefits nobody.

 

[farmerboy]

If he'd blamed the situation on local politics and national crises and complained about the causes, not the victims, he'd have been fine, but he talked about those people like a Victorian slumlord.

Exactly.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Because it made headlines back in 2013 when he first posted it.

Kind of weird Twitter would hire him in the first place when this was already known information.

Oh dang it's THAT dude?! Haha he played himself so hard with that 'git these dirty poors out of my neighborhood' rant.

 

[norm9]

Not sure I want vr twotter.

Eta- this is the same type of dude who buys a house in a bohemian neighborhood and then complains because there are eclectic and honeless people around and he wants to stamp it out, because not in HIS neighborhood.

 

[Fuchsdh]

i mean...maybe...but at the same time, not really



he understands he fucked up because people got mad at him, but it really seems like he missed why people were mad at him. not to mention all the woe is me shit like being made a "monster" by the media, having the right to vent his frustrations, chalking up the entire thing to viral media blowing it out of proportion or indignant that his post made people focus on him being an asshole rather than the homeless problem. that pretty much falls in line with his post thanking tech cruch for getting him fired. kinda, but not really.

Yep. I get his frustrations, but he doesn't actually own up to his comments. It shouldn't really take a new article to understand why people might take issue with you calling fellow human beings in worse circumstances than you "hyenas".

 

[Alucrid]

Oh, fuck him. His solution is building "homeless people cities" outside of his precious San Francisco.

i didn't get that far, but yeah, that does sounds like it would fit his characterization

Yeah you can totally hate on him after that. But please recognize he's not a monster.

writing up some blog posts on how he proposes to fix the problem hardly counts as him "work[ing] on a fix." and i'm assuming he never followed through on a lot of his events listed at the bottom of his posts since, out of the 30k he wanted on his change petition, he got 38. also, like i said earlier, his posts hardly sound like an apology and more like finding excuses as to why he wrote the post and then lamenting about the impact it had on his life. even now after being fired by twitter he fails to apologize, but again, blames something else. so is he a monster...eh.

 

[IceCold]

What he says is fucked up but SF really has a serious problem with the homeless. Doesn't make sense that you can walk a couple of blocks west from downtown and arrive to a neighborhood filled with homeless people with mental illnesses and hard drug addictions. You also run the chance of walking on sidewalks that smell of pee and have human feces. This shit is not safe for anybody, especially tourists who might be oblivious that such a neighborhood exists near union square.

Also, in some areas like SOMA it almost looks like a shanty town with all the people living in tents. A couple of blocks from those you have condos that are being sold for millions or with rent of around $10K/month. The wealth gap is crazy. You can have a store like Ives Saint Laurent and right next to it find a homeless dude digging into the trash. It's a sad state of affairs.

Pretty funny that when the Super Bowl was in San Jose, SF decided to "hide" all their homeless in warehouses...

 

[wutwutwut]

i didn't get that far, but yeah, that does sounds like it would fit his characterization



writing up some blog posts on how he proposes to fix the problem hardly counts as him "work[ing] on a fix." and i'm assuming he never followed through on a lot of his events listed at the bottom of his posts since, out of the 30k he wanted on his change petition, he got 38. also, like i said earlier, his posts hardly sound like an apology and more like finding excuses as to why he wrote the post and then lamenting about the impact it had on his life. even now after being fired by twitter he fails to apologize, but again, blames something else. so is he a monster...eh.

Well, I'm glad you read the post at least.

I'm going to watch the debate now

 

[Cyan]

I guess this raises the question: is there any kind of double jeopardy clause for shitty internet behavior? Like, obviously my first reaction on reading that post from the OP is "holy shit this guy is a colossal asshole," but this isn't something the guy just posted and it isn't something that just surfaced. This guy already got boatloads of shit for that post when he made it three years ago, apologized, and seems to have subsequently lost his position as CEO at Angelhack (though it's unclear reading articles from back then if this was a direct result of this story or because he was stealing from the company or something? Shit's all mixed up.)

Honestly from reading about his actions since then he doesn't seem to have learned a lot and still sounds like a self-centered jerk. But is that reason enough to get him fired? If he gets another job somewhere else in a couple years, will there be another article and will he be fired again?

I dunno. I already feel somewhat uncomfortable with the trend of social media mobs rushing to enact disproportionate punishments on people being jerks. It just makes it worse if that initial mobbing is going to keep resurfacing and resulting in additional punishments. Hard to blame Twitter, though.

 

[norm9]

The PR hit would have been too much. Imagine him being the top trending topic on twitter. Not saying it's rightom or wrong. It's just business.

 

[duckroll]

My response to that is that we don't know exactly what led to his dismissal from the company. Was it entirely that a 3 year old post was uncovered? Or did that simply lead to him being questioned and reacting poorly to it? I think we will never know since it is private, but that could very well play a part.

 

[Alucrid]

I guess this raises the question: is there any kind of double jeopardy clause for shitty internet behavior? Like, obviously my first reaction on reading that post from the OP is "holy shit this guy is a colossal asshole," but this isn't something the guy just posted and it isn't something that just surfaced. This guy already got boatloads of shit for that post when he made it three years ago, apologized, and seems to have subsequently lost his position as CEO at Angelhack (though it's unclear reading articles from back then if this was a direct result of this story or because he was stealing from the company or something? Shit's all mixed up.)

Honestly from reading about his actions since then he doesn't seem to have learned a lot and still sounds like a self-centered jerk. But is that reason enough to get him fired? If he gets another job somewhere else in a couple years, will there be another article and will he be fired again?

I dunno. I already feel somewhat uncomfortable with the trend of social media mobs rushing to enact disproportionate punishments on people being jerks. It just makes it worse if that initial mobbing is going to keep resurfacing and resulting in additional punishments. Hard to blame Twitter, though.

although you have to wonder how this might have gone differently if he made an honest apology (i'm not sure what you're referencing as an apology, but that post i listed felt half-hearted at best) and showed some more tangible efforts at helping / understanding the homeless problem.

 

[New002]

I guess this raises the question: is there any kind of double jeopardy clause for shitty internet behavior? Like, obviously my first reaction on reading that post from the OP is "holy shit this guy is a colossal asshole," but this isn't something the guy just posted and it isn't something that just surfaced. This guy already got boatloads of shit for that post when he made it three years ago, apologized, and seems to have subsequently lost his position as CEO at Angelhack (though it's unclear reading articles from back then if this was a direct result of this story or because he was stealing from the company or something? Shit's all mixed up.)

Honestly from reading about his actions since then he doesn't seem to have learned a lot and still sounds like a self-centered jerk. But is that reason enough to get him fired? If he gets another job somewhere else in a couple years, will there be another article and will he be fired again?

I dunno. I already feel somewhat uncomfortable with the trend of social media mobs rushing to enact disproportionate punishments on people being jerks. It just makes it worse if that initial mobbing is going to keep resurfacing and resulting in additional punishments. Hard to blame Twitter, though.

Oddly enough I had the same thought, about double-jeopardy I mean. Like I said earlier I remember this being posted way back when and you mention the fallout from that. Now it hasn't surfaced so much as REsurfaced, and it's hitting this dude twice. Sucks, but that's the world we live in. What you say is out there and will follow you around. Maybe if he had reacted differently back then...done more then and in the interim to show that he understood why people were upset and why what he said was messed up, then things could have gone differently? It at least would have given Twitter something to work with when defending their hire to the public.

 

[ant_]

He's not wrong. The homeless problem in San Francisco is absolutely horrible and getting worse. It's horrible for the people that live in the city, and it's horrible for the homeless themselves. His phrasing, wording, and treatment of the issue is poor.

 

[Esiquio]

If he'd blamed the situation on local politics and national crises and complained about the causes, not the victims, he'd have been fine, but he talked about those people like a Victorian slumlord.

This approach takes the opinion that no one in a bad situation has themselves to blame for any decisions they've made, making out everyone who is homeless a victim. Have you thought about this opinion?

 

[Syriel]

I felt like I have read this rant before

Getting major déjà vu. I feel like I read this rant a long time in another thread.

You read it before because it's not new.

TechCrunch decided to reprint something the guy apologized for (and deleted) back in 2013.

Props to Twitter for reprimanding him appropriately and quickly

Yes, props to Twitter for reprimanding someone for something that happening three years ago.

And he doesn't even get it.

Hoe long before "I apolofize if u got offendits."

You know, if he would have apologized after the initial backlash, he might not have been fired. Dude sounds like a dick.

He did apologize. Back in 2013. When it happened. Doesn't seem to have kept him from getting fired because TC republished old news.

Way to take responsibility for your own actions. It wasn't TechCrunch who wrote that garbage in the first place.

Wut? Did he volunteer at homeless shelters?

He kinda did.

http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/05/18/a-homeless-man-brings-wi-fi-to-san-francisco-shelters/

KQED is a public broadcaster, so you can't really claim it's a biased personal blog.

After the meeting, Jackson approached Gopman and told him about his idea to put Wi-Fi in shelters. Gopman liked it, and together they contacted a local Internet provider, MonkeyBrains, which donated time and equipment. How much did it all cost? About $6,000.

So for six grand the whole shelter, 334 beds, was connected. People with their own smartphones, tablets or some other device could look for work, get services, talk to friends and family. Suddenly, Jackson could message his kids.

“I’ve got an 8-year-old son,” Jackson says. “Facebook is the way we communicate.”

Now Jackson has big plans. He’s working with Gopman to create a nonprofit, Shelter Tech. He had some smartphones donated and is trying to get Wi-Fi in public housing projects and other shelters around the city.

That's one easily searchable result.

 

[Future]

Blaming tech crunch huh

 

[Tallshortman]

The disgusting part is a lot of the problem is people getting pushed out of affordable housing because of these tech companies. Most of those homeless have been there much longer than these twitter workers who moved there for the paycheck. If he's actually done work to improve their situation I wouldn't be for firing him however.

 

[Nabs]

“Anddd I’m fired. Thanks TechCrunch.”

Don't be mad, Oculus Rift is hiring.

 

[thechristoph]

Lmao, planning walking paths out of fear. I've seen a couple die hard liberals crumble when stepping into the poor community. Glad they're fired.

Guests my ass.

They're often arrogant libertarians who hate being reminded about the underclass that their ideals help create so...

GAF, like any online community, is a microcosm of global culture and personal perspectives. Folks from all walks of life come together and discuss interesting topics with thoughtful comments.

But thisisneogaf.gif though.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Wow that was waaaayyyy worse than I was expecting.

 

[Apathy]

Blame techcrunch instead of taking responsibility for the awful shit you say. Think he went to trump university

 

[UltraGunner]

Can't Thiel or whoever build that floating ocean city already so that all techies can fuck off and live there instead?

 

[dc3k]

Blame techcrunch instead of taking responsibility for the awful shit you say.

[citation needed]

 

[freeofgreed]

This approach takes the opinion that no one in a bad situation has themselves to blame for any decisions they've made, making out everyone who is homeless a victim. Have you thought about this opinion?

Except he doesn't make this distinction. He just makes blanket statements about all poor people.

 

[ElFly]

I guess this raises the question: is there any kind of double jeopardy clause for shitty internet behavior? Like, obviously my first reaction on reading that post from the OP is "holy shit this guy is a colossal asshole," but this isn't something the guy just posted and it isn't something that just surfaced. This guy already got boatloads of shit for that post when he made it three years ago, apologized, and seems to have subsequently lost his position as CEO at Angelhack (though it's unclear reading articles from back then if this was a direct result of this story or because he was stealing from the company or something? Shit's all mixed up.)

Honestly from reading about his actions since then he doesn't seem to have learned a lot and still sounds like a self-centered jerk. But is that reason enough to get him fired? If he gets another job somewhere else in a couple years, will there be another article and will he be fired again?

I dunno. I already feel somewhat uncomfortable with the trend of social media mobs rushing to enact disproportionate punishments on people being jerks. It just makes it worse if that initial mobbing is going to keep resurfacing and resulting in additional punishments. Hard to blame Twitter, though.

I don't think there's any way around this at least for companies in communications and advertising like Twitter

 

[NervousXtian]

Oh, fuck him. His solution is building "homeless people cities" outside of his precious San Francisco.

Got a better solution? Because so far the shelters and services being provided have done shit-all to cure the issue.

We need to stop acting like all homeless are victims and that we need to tiptoe around how to deal with them. There's zero reason they need to live in the middle of a city.. but a lot of them do it because it's easier to panhandle and easier to score drugs. Not all, but a lot of them.

Building homes and apartments in cheaper parts of town, on the outskirts where property is cheap makes sense.. problem is.. a lot of the people wouldn't take it because it'd make it harder to get drugs, or they are dealing with mental illness, and probably addictions.

 

[hollomat]

What is twitter doing in VR?

Also you think they'd do some due diligence.

 

[ccbfan]

The majority of the people I know that have visited San Francisco have told me something similar to what he said. Less anger but very similar.

SF is a nice city but the homeless issue makes it my least favorite city and I will never visit there ever again unless for business. My wife and I pretty much got harassed by a homeless person every day we were in SF and even followed a few blocks once. (Probably because we use cash all the time) I would never feel safe for my wife and kids to go out alone.

The problem is not even that there's a lot of homeless people. Other cities like Vancouver, Montreal and NYC have a ton of homeless people and those are my 3 fav cities in North America. The homeless there are a lot less aggressive tend to mind there own business. Worst thing they do is hold your door asking for some change, no clue why the SF ones are always so aggressive.

 

[Risible]

Comes from Florida. Claims the homeless are the guests in "his" town. OK.

 

[Risible]

The majority of the people I know that have visited San Francisco have told me something similar to what he said. Less anger but very similar.

SF is a nice city but the homeless issue makes it my least favorite city and I will never visit there ever again unless for business. My wife and I pretty much got harassed by a homeless person every day we were in SF and even followed a few blocks once. (Probably because we use cash all the time) I would never feel safe for my wife and kids to go out alone.

The problem is not even that there's a lot of homeless people. Other cities like Vancouver, Montreal and NYC have a ton of homeless people and those are my 3 fav cities in North America. The homeless there are a lot less aggressive tend to mind there own business. Worst thing they do is hold your door asking for some change, no clue why the SF ones are always so aggressive.

The issue isn't that the homeless are a problem - no shit, we all know that. It's the tone and tenor of his message that makes it reprehensible, and the fact that he says they should feel privileged for even being allowed to sleep on the street.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Something about this whole thing rubs me the wrong way.

I wonder, do you think Twitter gave him a chance to apologize? If they did, and he refused, I have no problem with him being fired.

If he wasn't given the option... I don't know, it feels wrong. It was a bad thing to say, but we've all written angry rants about something or other. Maybe not as bad as that one but the point stands. And to be honest, his rant was fairly benign compared to some stuff that's been said on the debate stage... or even what's been said by a certain other Virtual Reality pioneer.

 

[Stinkles]

This approach takes the opinion that no one in a bad situation has themselves to blame for any decisions they've made, making out everyone who is homeless a victim. Have you thought about this opinion?

Of course I have. Addicts, alcoholics and criminals are all complicit in their fate in one way or another and those specific issues should be addressed. Sometimes that won't be a hug.

 

[Aztechnology]

I'm glad he's doing something meaningful as a result. I hope it's genuine.

 

[Dabanton]

Lulz I remember when this was first posted. When will people learn, everything you say on the internet is there forever.

Imagine coming to work and then getting told to leave the building right away haha.

 

[dreamlongdead]

Wait a minute. He made the post back in 2013, and he apologized for it years ago. Apparently, he's a changed man.

Why would Twitter still fire him? This doesn't make sense to me.