Silicon Valley's gossip app is all over the place on the 'Google Manifesto'
Twitter was buzzing this weekend over the so-called "Google Manifesto," a 10-page document that opposed diversity initiatives and was written by a software engineer at Google. Motherboard first reported on document late Friday night.
But if you want to hear how engineers and other members of the tech community feel about the document, you should turn to Blind. There, on the anonymous messaging app where people are only identified by their company's name, Silicon Valley types debated the merits of the document.
"It was a pretty reasonable first draft of a doc - could have used more sourcing but the basic ideas were sound and respectfully presented," reads one post by a Google employee.
"Diversity is stupid," reads a post by an Uber employee. The screenshots below were provided by a person with access to the app and not by Blind:
Another poster — in the same thread titled "Any googlers wanna talk about this manifesto?" — asked, "Unless it came from leadership who cares?"
"Just because someone makes an argument you disagree with doesn't mean you should name call, bully or shame them," the Blind user, an engineer at Microsoft, continued.
A separate thread on Blind included a poll and asked users, "How do you feel about the Google diversity manifesto?"
The results were divided, with 57 percent disagreeing and about 37 percent agreeing with the document:
The "Google Manifesto" is not a document endorsed by Google. It was written by one employee, who has yet to be named.
If you go on Twitter, you may be able to uncover his unconfirmed name. If you go on Blind, you would see that his name is not available but the author is described as a "white guy with Harvard education," according to a post by a Google employee.
Google's recently hired VP of Diversity, Integrity and Governance Danielle Brown did respond to the document in an internal memo, leaked by Recode.
"I'm not going to link to it here as it's not a viewpoint that I or this company endorses, promotes or encourages," Brown wrote. "Diversity and inclusion are a fundamental part of our values and the culture we continue to cultivate."
Brown did not say whether any action will be taken against the employee. A Google spokesperson directed Mashable to the internal memo as the company's official response.
Read more of the anonymous comments below.
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
