Venue to Dissent

I’ve got a lot of strong thoughts on how and why things should be done in this industry of technology. Quite strong. Things fly by on FastCo or HackerNews or Twitter and I want to write a piece on it, but always end up backing out and adding them to the roundfile.

Nothing out of the ordinary, mind you. The standard opinions and thoughts that you know ahead of time aren’t going to go over well with everyone. Especially if it’s relevant to your current situation.

Problem is, where do you write about them? If one is trying to maintain some sort of public persona, but also accept they are likely to be employed and not independent, is there a venue? It seems like one can’t very well post articles that are caustic or criticize certain methods, behaviors, or beliefs.

The argument of “places/people that are sensitive/offended aren’t places you want to work anyways” is not valid for people who don’t make their living being self employed or as a public figure, blogger, or otherwise industry thought leader.

Or, are the interesting, opinionated and sometimes polarizing topics being written by those who do have the ability to do so without fear of reproach, and the gainfully employed just keep it to themselves regardless of their audience or exposure.

It’s a question I don’t know how to answer. So many posts and tweets have been written and then deleted. It’s not that they inappropriate - far from it. I am guessing a lot of people would appreciate hearing a strongly worded opinion on topics that are constantly being talked about in this world of the Internet design and development world.

I am not sure how others get away with it. You write a criticism of something that you are a part of, suddenly your boss or the person in charge or future employers sees it - and now you’ve outed yourself. Can’t have that, right? Are the gainfully employed just relegated to sanitizing what they say for the fear of being viewed as a dissenter, not a team-player, or an otherwise boat-rocker who doesn’t fit into the “cultural” status quo?

Is there something to be said about being a sycophant, protecting your interests at the expense of expressing your thoughts that are sure to rustle some jimmies?