A dominant topic among employees of Quora, over this weekend, has been whether they’re going to stay with the company in light of its decision on September 4 to ban my account. Quora’s management seems to be concerned about the threat of attrition in the wake of this. So, I feel compelled to comment.
I’ve been in technology for 10 years, so I’m going to say a few things. First, if you’re seriously considering leaving your job on my behalf, you probably shouldn’t move based on that, alone. A user ban against an unobjectionable and popular user is a problem, and bad-faith use of administrative privileges is a big deal, but you have to look out for your own career. Don’t do anything rash. This isn’t as big of a deal as it seems, right now.
Obviously, it goes without saying that you shouldn’t leave one job without lining up the next one. If you’re presently employed, your offers seem to be about 20 percent better than what you get if you’re unemployed. There’s also the job hopper stigma to worry about: one short job is acceptable, but two or three in a row starts to hurt you. You probably also shouldn’t tell your boss, if you choose to leave Quora, that you’re doing it because of “9/4”. He’s not going to want to hear it. When a company faces a sudden morale crisis of this magnitude, the last thing that a manager wants is a “you too?”
Personally, I appreciate the support. However, I’ve also “been there” and the tech world can be extremely vindictive. No matter how incensed you are about Quora’s decision to ban me, leave on good terms if you choose to leave, and strongly consider not leaving Quora if it’s just over this. Just trust me on this one, okay?
Now, opinions in general seem to be split down the middle on why my account was banned. Half of the people I talk to seem to believe the investor-level extortion hypothesis, and the other half seem to think it’s something more mundane, like an admin settling a score or just a bureaucratic mistake. One person implicated a specific Quora administrator who intends on applying to Y Combinator in the next cycle. (No one believes the “official” explanation involving sock puppets.)
If it turns out that the decision to ban me came from inside Quora, then this would make the company itself ethically suspect and, by all means, leave the company if that is the case. It’s too early to make such a claim, however.
On the other hand, if Quora was subjected to investor-level threats, then I implore you to understand, at the very least, that Quora had no choice in the matter. Investors’ threats are a big deal and it’s far, far better for one user to be banned from a website than for 115 peoples’ jobs to be put at risk. It could be that “9/4” was the less horrible of two options. We still have to wait and see, but don’t do anything rash on my behalf. I’m doing just fine.
Thank you all for your continuing support.
