this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2023

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Linus Tech Tips

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What started as criticism over errors in recent YouTube videos has escalated into allegations of sexual harassment, prompting the company to hire an outside investigator. (www.theverge.com)

submitted 3 years ago by phillaholic@lemm.ee to c/linustechtips@lemmy.ml

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Linus Media Group CEO Terren Tong also responded via email, saying he was “shocked at the allegations and the company described” in Reeve’s posts. He went on to note that “as part of this process, beyond an internal review we will also be hiring an outside investigator to look into the allegations and will commit to publish the findings and implementing any corrective actions that may arise because of this.”

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[–] Saneless@sh.itjust.works 66 points 3 years ago (3 children)

Is it safe to say if the dude in the video wasn't passively crapping on HUB and GN this would never have happened?

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[–] phillaholic@lemm.ee [S] 56 points 3 years ago (2 children)

Probably not. All the issues were there, someone would have pointed it out for some reason at some point.

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[+] AngryAnusHornets@lemmy.world 3 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (2 children)

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[–] phillaholic@lemm.ee [S] 3 points 3 years ago

imo it’s the natural outcome of the kind of growth they’ve experienced while not putting significant effort into using outside consultants or hires to get their corporate structure right.

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[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 3 years ago

I think the problem was the lab idea. When they started going along the lab idea I did feel like it was not really there area of expertise and I thought it was odd that other companies were so interested. In order for the lab results to be trustworthy the company has to be far more open and professional than LTT really is. They probably have to allow external auditors to come in and have a look from time to time which wasn't something they really seem to account for.

Like don't get me wrong, it's a great idea and it's probably something the world needs, but I wouldn't have thought that they were the people to carry it out. I've always seen LTT as Top Gear but with computers.

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[+] spuncertv@iusearchlinux.fyi -66 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (5 children)

GN probably would've done it anyway. He is not completely in the right because as unbiased as he wants to be, at the end of the day, he is still criticizing a competitor. I doubt those comments actually prompted his response. They had a lot of examples in their video and have probably been compiling it for a while.

Edit: I mean to say that criticizing a competitor can damage your reputation. I think GN was entirely justified in creating the video. The point I was trying to make is that, after the backpack warranties scandal, Steve basically came out saying that they would be paying closer attention to LMG's credibility. So I think this video would've come out eventually regardless of whether or not staff at LMG made those remarks about GN.

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[–] Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml 47 points 3 years ago (1 child)

Yes, how dare he criticize a competitor in the hopes of making them a better competitor

What unassailable logic.

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[–] spuncertv@iusearchlinux.fyi 1 point 3 years ago

I worded my original comment poorly. It can be bad for your reputation to criticize a competitor, but GN was completely right to make this video. It just has a lot of potential to backfire.

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[+] Ilandar@aussie.zone 43 points 3 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

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[–] spuncertv@iusearchlinux.fyi 1 point 3 years ago

I agree. I worded my initial comment poorly. I just meant that it can be damaging to your own reputation to criticize competitors. GN is completely in the right.

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[–] AssholeDestroyer@lemmy.ml 29 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

Steve pointed out that most of the errors were caught by himself and not addressed previously. I'd imagine with their previously close ties that the GN crew planned on reaching out privately, but after being thrown under the bus they decided to go full on ass blast.

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[–] spuncertv@iusearchlinux.fyi 1 point 3 years ago

My point was that Steve has probably been keeping these examples on hand for a while, because he seemed pretty skeptical of the ethics at LMG after the backpack scandal. At most, I think the comments from LMG might have pushed GN to release that video sooner than they had originally planned.

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[–] lowleveldata@programming.dev 29 points 3 years ago (1 child)

So it's basically wrong to criticize a competitor?

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[–] spuncertv@iusearchlinux.fyi 1 point 3 years ago

I worded that poorly. In general it is not in your best interest to criticize a competitor. GN was absolutely right to make that video, I'm just saying that due to them being competitors, it has more potential to backfire.

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[–] SpacetimeMachine@lemmy.world 7 points 3 years ago (1 child)

GN gave LMG a rope to pull them up with so they could be better, LMG tied it into a noose and hung themselves. GN did pretty much exactly the right thing to allow LMG to improve themselves.

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[–] spuncertv@iusearchlinux.fyi 3 points 3 years ago

True, Linus is absolutely terrible at handling criticism. Dude needs to just lets himself cool off for 24 hours and have some people read things before he posts and it wouldn't have become such a mess.

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[–] HRDS_654@lemmy.world 4 points 3 years ago

I mean they were already starting the process of changing things, though not as much as they should have. In reality LTT should have started restructuring years ago to account for their bigger size. If they had started around 2021 the allegations probably could have been avoided. Unfortunately hindsight is 20/20 so they are stuck with the consequences of past mistakes and being reactive, an almost always worst position to be in, instead of proactive. I really do hope that everyone emerges on the other side of this okay, and by everyone I do mean the victims as well, provided the allegations are true.

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[+] Empricorn@feddit.nl -8 points 3 years ago* (3 children)

What are you talking about; is your brain broken!? Them throwing shade at established testing sources has nothing to do with allegations of sexual harassment! That's not how causation works...

Or are you one of those "she's lying!" people that never believes women, despite the fact that 81% of US women experience sexual assault/harassment in their lifetime? Glad their new CEO is taking this more seriously than people like you...

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[–] KyuubiNoKitsune@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 3 years ago (1 child)

No, but the comments by their staff that op was referring to stoked the fire that created all the exposure and I imagine prompted her to come forward too.

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[–] Saneless@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 years ago

Exactly. Thanks for getting it

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[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

Jesus Christ you've got a problem. You're picking fights which aren't there.

You have to admit the timing is interesting. Why come forward now, perhaps, if it is true, she never would have felt comfortable coming forward unless she felt that there was public support. I literally think that is the only point the comment was making, and here you are, going off the rails accusing somebody of not caring. That is absolutely not what I read from the comment.

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[–] Saneless@sh.itjust.works 1 point 3 years ago

Thank you

I care a lot about this shit. I make damn sure I'm not toxic at work. Especially around women. I've worked as a minority as a man on teams and they are absolutely always just bracing for some dude to be a shithead to them. It's just constantly in the back of their heads, if not the front

I've been a part of a sexual harassment investigation as a witness to someone's terrible treatment and I hope my testimony helped get the guy ultimately fired.

It's something we all have to be good about and speak up about

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[–] Saneless@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 years ago

What in the god damned milky way are you going on about?

Linus's dude shitting on GN about testing -> GN responding with a very thorough takedown of how bad they are with their mistakes, largely because they focus on content quantity even though the employees all say they're too fast and kinda burned out on it -> People chat around how LTT is probably a bad place to work and Linus doesn't care about employees -> Madison sees that the narrative of a bad LTT workplace being accepted and it is a good time to bring up her terrible experience with a very good chance she'll be listened to this time

That's it. The original comment in LTT's video set it in motion. And if Steve never responded I seriously doubt we'd be at a place where people would be talking about how employees there are treated.

But please, continue on with the insults, I'm sure in your not-broken brain it all makes sense.

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