Linus Tech Tips halts production to address content errors | Mashable.
YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips halts production to address content errors
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| Credit: Mashable composite; Linus Media Group |
This week, for the first time in over a decade, the Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel will not be uploading videos.
Linus Media Group, the 120-person company that produces content for Linus Tech Tips and its associated channels like ShortCircuit and TechQuickie, is pausing production for at least a week to "focus on long-term upload changes."
The announcement comes after fellow tech review channel Gamers Nexus posted a 44-minute long video on Aug. 14 detailing errors in Linus Tech Tips videos, from lax data reporting to factual flubs.
Linus Media Group explained the shutdown in an Aug. 16 video in which the company's CEO, CFO, COO, CTO and the heads of its lab, business development, production, and writing divisions assured viewers that they would be correcting errors in both processes and personal judgment moving forward.
CEO Terren Tong, who took over the company for founder Linus Sebastian in July, acknowledged "recent community outcry demanding change" but did not name Gamers Nexus.
Sebastian began uploading videos to Linus Tech Tips in 2008 and remains at the company as Chief Vision Officer for Linus Media Group. The business has more than 20 million subscribers across its channels and a devout following across its associated podcasts and annual conventions.
Data errors aren't the only issue challenging the company's integrity. On Aug. 16, before the company announced its production pause, former Linus Media Group employee Madison Reeve posted a thread on X outlining her experience there. She detailed sexist and sexual remarks made about and to her by coworkers and a toxic work environment that did not allow for time off.
Reeve also noted that the company's public-facing promises were not kept behind closed doors. "The things said by Linus about talking to management, and HR, and promises about how things are handled internally, were a gross misrepresentation of what actually goes on," she wrote.
Linus Tech Group has committed to hiring a third party to look into those allegations, with Tong telling The Verge "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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To be fair, Gamer Jesus blows holes in everyone's data, usually. The sexism and other harassment issues are concerning though.
ReplyDeleteand they didn’t addressed the most concerning problems on the apology video.
DeleteHey 👋❤️ I have something to ask you, I don't think it's right to send you a friend request without your permission, if you don't mind, please send me a message or add me as a friend.
Deletewell, I am not talking sides, but gamer Jesus is usually right, he sure does his homework.
DeleteHonestly the channel and the content is not that good. All they try really hard to do is getting water bottles down your throat.
ReplyDeleteHey 👋❤️ I have something to ask you, I don't think it's right to send you a friend request without your permission, if you don't mind, please send me a message or add me as a friend.
DeleteI have been trying to reach you about your cars extended warranty.
Deletecommit to publice findings, ye that really sounds good coming from liars and thiefs.
ReplyDeleteI stopped watching ltt 3 years ago after they started putting out videos just to sell ads
ReplyDeleteGarbage channel. Just delete it.
ReplyDeletePlease check my Facebook account Roxan Ballares link https://www.facebook.com/rballares
ReplyDeleteFor evidences that I posted online because I was not getting attention from Government Agencies as an act of frustration and cry for help.
Please let me know if you need additional information or evidence from me. I prefer talking via email to avoid further stretch on my sanity as I'm having issues with words due to my triggers just like what I have explained.
Not a huge computer guy-- I mostly watch LTT for entertainment. But I've looked at Linus a lot differently ever since he made a rape joke about Yvonne live on the LAN show a few months ago after she declined to talk to the audience (they then uploaded it to the LMG clip channel: https://youtu.be/FatJA_sTuYk). Yeah, sometimes people make dark jokes with their partners, but live on a large internet tech show as the CEO? And Yvonne clearly didn't think it was funny, from what I can gather. The amount of people ignoring it or writing it off immediately in the comments makes me feel like I'm going insane.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised by Madison's allegations. The CEO of the company saying that on air is pretty damning evidence to me that something is wrong.
If you go through the LTT subreddit it's like half people coping and half posting stuff that now looks really bad in retrospect.
DeleteAll true statements. The quality thing I think it's been taken to an absurd level, and it feels somewhat a vendetta by GN after de labs tour videos, but some good points were made and should be addressed.
ReplyDeleteThe Madison situation, I don't know. Maybe now feels like a more safe time to do this? But if any of it is true it's quite damming to LMG. Personally don't believe Linus would do anything like that or if made aware would just ignore the problem but it is his company and all this things for better or worse fall on him. Just sucks all around.
Not even close, lol
ReplyDeletereally hope he sees this, chief
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more. It's sad that people are taking Madison at her word with zero evidence to her claims. The fact she chose to not go to a lawyer, but took an opportunity to tweet things is suspect. People love to get their pitchforks out, and much of this is being fueled by redditors, because of course it is. They usually get it wrong.
ReplyDeleteAbsolute garbage comment, chief.
ReplyDeleteI see the creepy little fanboys have crawled back out of their hole.
ReplyDeleteThere's no context they could provide, there's no "working with" anyone here at all. The reason LTT did anything is specifically because of the journalism GN did. That's been what GN does for years now.
ReplyDeleteThis is literally backwards? LTT wanted in on GN's corner of the review market but were to incompetent to test properly.
It's not crazy at all, it's the most common thing in the world. But this also tells me you didn't read her thread at all, because she explains exactly why and how she stayed silent for so long. It's because people would call her a liar and the community is toxic as fuck, which is exactly what's happening. So good for you.
This is coming at this from a depressing angle but I’ve literally only worked in toxic workplaces (with one small exception for a few months). I’m a digital marketing person so this intersects with what I do. I could just be unlucky, I hope that’s the case.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time believing that any YouTube company is not run terribly. They are all slaves to an algorithm that is constantly in flux and bigger tech masters. Even a well run workplace is going to start acting crazy with those constraints.
Best bet for the employees is to unionize. There won’t be some magic process that makes a ton of money on social media and also treats workers with respect.
Yeah, I’m sure all the big Youtubers are quite toxic offline as they chase monetization, likes, subscribers, and above all - algorithm.
DeleteTo get big, you need to pump out the content and be sensational. Thats just sadness of Youtube and no one should be fooled by anyones friendly videos.
I was thinking about that and I think MKBHD is doing fine, it's still a small operation and they have the same or even older channel than LTT, just went to completely different paths
DeleteSure, but her complaints seem stupid (7 whole social media posts a day, poor baby!) And then claiming she was injuring herself on purpose to get a day off? Sounds incredibly overdramatic and says more about her ability to just open her mouth than it does about LTT
DeleteNo it says plenty about LTT, and your comment says plenty about the LTT community. Her self injuring doesn't change the facts of the issue that were occurring at LMG.
DeleteLiterally the entire point is that she did open her mouth and nothing happened. I feel incredibly sorry for any woman that's had to work with you.
DeleteBREAKING NEWS: Company accused of knowingly publishing false findings will publish the findings of their own sexual harassment investigation.
ReplyDeleteto be fair, and this is coming from someone who thinks this entire organization is unsalvagable and would be better off dying, the new scapegoat ceo seems to at at least want to give the appearance of actually having autonomy and integrity and hired his own investigators in parallel to whatever coverup investigation they're doing internally. I'm a little hopeful there will at least be some accountability coming out of this eventually.
DeleteNothing quite as charming as a quasi-educated internet lynch mob demonizing a person based on allegations. You don't have all the info, in fact you have almost no info. And the info you have, you don't even know if its valid. Not only that, you have NO reason to assume that Linus was even involved.
ReplyDeleteHave a little human decency and keep the self righteous accusations to a minimum until you actually know something.
Linus don't you have something else to do?
Deletewell, 1. he's the face of the company. and 2. he's directly involved with the Billet Labs fiasco.
DeleteI can't believe someone would make these accusations against my personal best friend, Funny Internet Man.
DeleteHe was named as one of the people harassing the employee in question. You are right that we don’t have all the facts, but neither do you.
DeleteOk, well I could just name you in a scandal as well...Apparently that's all it takes to automatically make it true.
DeleteSo what? Question her motives and her timing, and her excuses as to why she didn't take this to a lawyer. Millions in legal fees? Please don't be so naive that you believe everything a person says with dno evidence to back it up.
DeleteAgain, I didn’t say I believe it. But I believe it deserves to be investigated. But you go ahead, don’t believe her, and believe Linus Media Group is completely innocent without any evidence saying so.
DeleteWhy are you so sure she made it up? It cannot be that she waited to report it either. Crimes against women often go unreported because fear of retaliation or not being believed. So go head and explain what evidence do you have to suggest she made it up? I really wanna know.
DeleteSounds like you are in a parasocial relationship.
DeleteAhh cool the guy running free defense for rich people.
DeleteLast I checked, innocent until proven guilty applied to everyone regardless of wealth. Perhaps you don't live in North America?
DeleteLinus isn't under arrested or be asked to leave LMG, so this response is really bizarre. Innocent until proven guilty, and they are going about it via the outside-party investigation.
DeleteDon't bother. These people have already made their judgment based on things they known nothing about and have 0 knowledge but it's the mainstream opinion so let's just all play along and allow to ruin someone.
DeleteIt's funny because you've also made up your mind with no evidence, you just trust the funny YouTube man you enjoy.
DeleteHis lack of involvement is not a point in his defense when he's the head of the company. He has/had a responsibility to create a safe working environment for people who depended on his leadership and management; not liking being a CEO is not an excuse for being a bad one, especially when you're making a ton of money to do the job.
DeleteIs the CEO personally involved in every HR situation where you work? I'm guessing no.
DeleteThe CEO most certainly doesn't need to be involved in "every HR situation" if it's actually resolved and addressed by HR but in this case it wasn't and the employee left.
DeleteApologies if someone already posted this:
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/UVo_6rGSiyI
This whole saga reminds me of SNL's Viral Apology Video
TIL Linus is a whole ass company with divisions and a C-suite and not just some dude named Linus with a YT channel talking random tech stuff
ReplyDeleteWhat they produce is still very much that... but yeah, the machine behind it complex.
Deletehis ego grew too large to contain in a single human body.
DeleteYou know what's extra sad about this? Linus has daughters, if the allegations are true, how is he not striving for a safe and amazing environment to set an example for when his kids start their careers?
ReplyDeleteWhich will certainly be at his company, because he's known for his nepotism hiring on building his company
DeleteI didn't know running a business with your spouse was nepotism. I guess the grocery store by my house is run by nepotists. Also the photography company that took our family photos too. Damn, I'm surrounded by nepotism.
DeleteYes, you are by definition.
DeleteBut owning a grocery store is not exactly a position of power or influence. It's just a couple that owns a business. I can understand this definition in the context of government and maybe even massive corporate conglomerates where the influence and power are actually tangible and effectual. But LMG is neither of those things.
DeleteIt seems you have a bias that you want this definition to fit within and it just doesn't in this case.
https://corporate.publix.com/about-publix/culture/history
DeletePublix is both family-owned and employee-owned and the employees have a majority stake. There has to be actual manipulation of their familial influence and power over those beneath their station in order for it be nepotism. You can't just blindly label things nepotism just because more than one family member works at the company.
DeleteTry again?
LMG is an enourmous media company, not a mom and pop.
DeleteBeing enourmous still doesn't automatically make the company nepitous.
DeleteHiring your spouse for key positions does, though, make it nepotism in any company. Seriously, every family business has the same risks as any government.
DeleteIf your top management is entirely family, if one family member commits misconduct, who can independently investigate that? Nobody feels safe, especially if it's heinous misconduct.
It is nepotism. Move on. None of this as complicated as you all are making it. Linus does not have an exclusion on nepotism, and neither does any "family mom and pop."
This entire comments section is evidence: "Just because it's uncomfortable doesn't make it wrong."
She cofounded the company and owns a 50% share just like her husband. Did you just assume that because she's a women she must have been hired by her husband...
DeleteFamily co-founders (of any gender, of any relationship) become a nepotism problem once they make outside hires because now BOTH co-founders have a significant personal relationship that may not allow an independent investigation.
DeleteThat you thought this had anything to do with only husband-wife relationships is telling.
It being nepotism isn't even a value judgement in and of itself, but it's nepotism. I have no idea what argument you're making that it's not lmao.
DeleteThere is recourse. You quit. You can report them to regulatory bodies. You build evidence, hire a lawyer, and file a lawsuit. You can hire external investigators.
DeleteI will concede that companies are at a higher risk of misconduct as a byproduct of nepotism. The problem I have is the jump to the conclusion that because the founders are family that nepotist abuse is present. Especially considering there is no evidence of that. A toxic work culture and atmosphere? Sure! But we've seen companies commit far worse misconduct without nepotism at the foundation of it.
I'm not interested in forgoing nuance and context to paint nepotist abuse where there probably isn't any. If news comes out to the contrary, then I'm wrong and we move on.
'enormous' isn't true - 100-120 odd people isn't 'enormous'.
DeleteFor a YouTube channel???
DeleteOwning. A. Store.
DeleteThey have power over employees, making money, etc etc. This is a position of power and influence.
That definition implies a situation where there's an imbalance of power and one relative/friend/etc. is using their greater position of power to benefit the other. It really doesn't make sense for a situation like LMG where they're co-founders of the company. The company would not exist without his wife. Linus didn't give his wife a job, they're co-owners of the company and gave themselves their respective positions within the company by nature of being them BOTH being the decision makers.
DeleteThe absurd mental gymnastics here: nepotism really isn't complex or rare.
Delete1) Wife & husband start a business. Not nepotism yet since nobody else works there.
2) They hire someone outside the family.
3) The husband then commits sexual misconduct against that new employee and covers it up.
Done. You can see the enormous risks and major conflict of interest through nepotism immediately. The wife may not fairly investigate the husband because they have a (significant) personal relationship beyond work.
Critically, there is no outside party that can step in. Even LMG understands that basic reality, for Pete's Sake: that's why LMG also contracts out a to 3rd-party HR firm.
The problem is, LMG specifically told employees to "figure out all problems between yourselves", then go to Linus or Yvonne, and then go to the third-party HR firm. That's the disaster that happened with Madison's case and sexual misconduct by LMG employees.
You're describing a structural problem with a company owned by a husband and wife, which is accurate, but you're still not describing nepotism.
DeleteWait until you understand nepotism is a structural problem. 👌
DeleteA shock, I know. Completely surprised me, too. /s
By that definition,
Delete1) It's not nepotism unless you can prove favoritism, and
2) Every business is at risk of practicing nepotism unless they go out of the way to hire only people that no one in the business has ever known before.
At that level, the idea of nepotism because useless, as it is essentially universal.
Further, the idea of 'conflict of interest' exists within every organization, as scandal, even if properly addressed, is still a net negative.
Nope, still nepotism. It makes perfect sense. Not at all as complicated as you're pretending it to be.
DeleteThe root problem: no independent department to investigate the top family management.
This is a classic problem in mom-and-pop shops that "get big." Nepotism ironically begins as soon as you start hiring people outside the family because your initial hires are all related. Problem is, LMG's third-party HR (see, even Linus knew LMG had severe nepotism risks) was not being consulted on any cases because Linus wanted "everyone to settle your problems yourselves first; if not, then come to me or Yvonne" and then to their third-party HR (but that means all major evidence has been lost as nothing was documented when Linus asked employees to take an "HR shortcut" to his office).
that's literally nepotism. you are free to say it's fine, but that's what the word means.
DeleteNepotism how? His wife was there from the start and was employee #2 or #3, she wasn't hired because she's his wife, she was literally doing all the business side of things, while he ran the youtube site of things
DeleteShe literally convinced him to start the channel and quit his job. She even supported him at the beginning with her other.
DeleteHuh? He and his wife co-founded the company, and they each own a 50% share. How is that nepotism. My parents ran a bed and breakfast business together. Am I to assume they were terrible people for doing that?
DeleteHis kids are still just kids -- not even teenagers, he hasn't hired any of them and they've barely been in any of his content.
There's a lot to criticize him for right now, but nepotism just isn't a value accusation at this point.
As I've gotten older and observed how people parent, I've learned that parents just don't apply the same standards to everyone else as they do their kids. Part of that is to be expected, obviously you're going to care for your own kids more than anyone else, but part of it is just downright double standards; "I expect this level of treatment for my kids, but I'll treat you however I want." It's certainly not unique to Linus, and it often just comes down to a personal blindspot...not always intentional.
DeleteSteve was, is and will be the best in the business alongside Hardware unboxed.
ReplyDeletestefan gets the last laugh
ReplyDeleteLmao. Verge is having the time of it's life with this. Especially after the livestrong wristband PC guy debacle.
ReplyDeletethat's a pretty standard thing they put in articles like this with something ongoing.
DeleteAh yes, the debacle that happened 5 years ago. That's why The Verge is reporting on a major YT player being accused of sexual harassment.
DeletePlsss if anyone is suprised by any if this, you are just naive. The guy is obviously toxic dude and has always been, you can just te by his bidu language, communication and everything, and the work environment is probably shitty because they hire bunch of douche dudes who think its funny to act like that.
ReplyDeleteNothing will change, its just a slowdown for a week, while they think of better ways to hide this in the future. They are porbably laughing at this article and calling us all bunch of idiots on the verge. Its just obvious, we all have been with guys like them.
One of the biggest red flags I got from him was when in a video in his house where they recorded a call he made to customer support about getting some firmware for some kind of sensor. He was extremely arrogant. How you talk to customer support says a lot about how you treat people.
DeleteLooking back I vividly remember a situation about a very close friend talking very arrogantly with customer support. Just days later I learned what that person was truly like and cut ties. Bunch of other red flags I let slip past me though
But honestly that's just one of his many issues. The excuse of "I'm a terrible CEO and I know it" doesn't excuse the piss poor work he has done at managing. These are issues deep down to the core of the company. Without a big rebranding and layoffs of the people involved(a lot of them upper management it seems) nothing is going to change
Well, it's not difficult to get a tad arrogant with someone that 1) has such a thick accent that they are hard to understand 2) don't have a full mastery of the English language 3) are level one folks that are working off a script and really have no idea how to think out of the box to address your issue. On top of that you know you're going through this hassle simply because the company you're calling just wants to save a buck at the expense of your customer experience. Not saying it's right, just a little more understandable.
DeleteThat was for Jasco zwave firmware. The funny thing was that it was his own fault (probably not his own rather his employees he gets to do since Linus seems not very capable or technical to do himself) due to misconfiguration, and was actually running current firmware since did not realize was shown as hex vs decimal value. And a later video he wrongly accuses same switches of interference with his wifi speakers based on results from an RF tester he does not have clue how to use, lacking any knowledge of RF - just wave it around room until beeps maybe wrap some tinfoil around it too LOL.
DeleteNever seen a popular company go downhill this fast. 2 days, -4000 paid subscribers, -100,000 YouTube subscribers.
ReplyDeleteYikes.
laughs in pewdiepie
DeleteFor some perspective on those numbers. -5000(and counting) is $25 000 less revenue a month(assuming people are subbed per month). That's $300 000 less revenue per year. Count the loss on youtube and further loss in the coming days from the days without videos and has more people find out about this. That's gonna hurt
DeleteYou are assuming every single person who subscribed watched every single video. I assure you, he isn't losing money unless he starts losing sponsors. Youtube doesn't pay what it used to, which is why every does in video promotions.
DeleteI'm sure they will survive after this whole thing blows over.
Delete1) more Mac Address
ReplyDelete2) less TechQuickie
3) make the WAN Show shorter
4) Slow down the pace of videos
5) Less sexual harassment in the workplace
I hope you meant no sexual harassment
DeleteAs it stands there has been one case of (alleged) sexual harassment.
DeleteReducing the cases would lessen the number to zero.
So „spaceisabigplace“ was technically correct, the best form of correct.
“Check out this unusual apple chief” ~ Newton
DeleteUntrue. It's one victim, multiple instances, so less just means fewer instances, still one case
DeleteAlleged. Her claims of sexual harassment were incredibly vague, almost as if she wasn't even sure herself.
DeleteThey really aren't, they're actually... incredibly specific!
DeleteOne case _reported_.
DeleteSigh…yes but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t prior. Additionally, the case described was multiple events.
DeleteWhile that certainly should be a goal, it's also not a realistic outcome. You don't want it to happen, but you need to believe/understand it will happen so you're ready to deal with it properly. Believing that a workplace can ever achieve no harassment creates an environment where problems get ignored or covered up to maintain the illusion.
DeleteThe ideal scenario would be no sexual harassment in the workplace.
Delete6) Bring back the They're Just Movies podcast
DeleteLinus killed a popular side project that took up a few hours per week for a handful of staff to put out, because it was time which could have been spent on primary channel content, which really tells you quite a lot about the extreme crunch he ran. The guys clearly weren't happy at all with that decision either, it was very plain to hear in their announcement of it. Shame because it was leagues more relaxed and enjoyable than the merch-heavy overly-scripted nonsense LMG has been churning out for the past while.
ah yeah cos THAT'S the problem here
DeleteThank God we aren't losing sight of what's important!
DeleteHe didn't? It wasn't even his decision, he touched on it himself there https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcNmM6WPCA0
Delete6. Consolidate content. I think the major issue is that they're spreading out between so many sub-brands that it's spreading the team too thin.
DeleteLOL less sexual harassment? 5 is too much but 1 or 2 is ok.
DeleteDam that's crazy.
ReplyDeleteLinus' behavior, that unhinged rant he's since deleted and even his BS during that damage control video just tells me that the accusations that poor woman and others have said about LTT are true. Blocked LTT for good. Riddance.
DeleteIs this rant/vid still up somewhere?
DeleteThey probably are talking about the forum post, here https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fdh24b8ss85ib1.jpg
DeleteLMG needs a union like yesterday.
ReplyDeleteHaven’t you heard? LMG is like a family and Linus would take as a sign of his personal failure if the staff decided to unionise and insert an outside third party into that relationship.
DeleteYou know, the mating call of the shitty anti-union boss since time began.
Fortunately, in BC, if 50%+1 of a company's employees votes to unionize (secret ballot), then it will happen, and there's nothing the employer can do about. If Linus doesn't want it to happen, then he needs give his employees no more reasons to decide they need one.
DeleteThere are plenty of well run companies out there where the employees are perfectly happy without the support of unions. You just don't hear about them very often because they don't make any news. Strong unions have played a key part in the history of labor relations and they are needed just as much today as they were fifty years ago, but there is no substitute for a company that respects the needs of its workforce. If Linus believes LMG unionizing would be a personal failure then fine, nothing wrong with that.
What makes a shitty anti-union boss is one who threatens or fires anyone who tries to unionize.
History shows it’s what you say as a powerful figurehead who just wants the peasants to shut up. It’s literally, exactly what Gilded Age Robber-barons said right before they called the Pinkertons to come and shoot striking workers. It’s more or less the same as what European absolute monarchs said (“I’m the loving father of the kingdom and the people are my children”) right before they told the military to go all bayonets and grapeshot on protestors asking for a constitution. When I heard him say it I was floored by how exactly he had reproduced the script.
DeleteEvery work place should be unionised and every worker should be in a union. Even if you are in the fortunate position of not needing help from the union. That just means it is time for you to help the union get everyone to where you are.
Make it it an employee owned cooperative like MaxFun did.
DeletePeople love employee owned coops until the company does poorly and they still want their paycheck.
DeleteNow you're being ridiculous. Singling out some of the worst excesses in history doesn't make your case stronger any more than if I was to single out the worst cases of union corruption (and there have been plenty) from the last 100 years.
DeleteWorkplaces where job satisfaction remains high across the board don't need a third party to come in and referee things, and injecting a third party into negotiations where none is necessary doesn't come without risk to the employees.
I grew up during Thatcher's destruction of the unions in 1980s Britain and I currently live in Texas - a so-called "right to work" state -- so I don't need to be reminded of what happens to workers when union power is marginalized, but that doesn't mean every single workplace she be required to have union representation. That should be up to the workers themselves backed up by strong labor laws to prevent retaliation and intimidation.
Ahhh yes so a corrupt organization can come in and call the shots for what seems to be another corrupt organization.
DeleteGuess what. He's a known for his union busting slant https://twitter.com/lr_zkt/status/1691490218665291789?s=20
DeleteSeems like small issues being blown out proportion.
ReplyDeleteSexual harassment is not a small issue.
DeleteIt can be blown out of proportion.
DeleteHave you read the accuser’s thread? Proportionality has been satisfied here.
DeleteFrankly, when I read that whole thread, none of it seemed surprising at all. When she talked about his fans harassing her, it somehow seemed very much expected. His community has the whole toxic "bro" vibe, that's exactly the sort of vibe that comes across in his videos, and it doesn't seem the least bit surprising that that's the sort of people that he attracts, or that the company would have such a culture as well.
DeleteWhat about her colleagues? You know... the main problem?
DeleteYea, she seemed pretty concerned about social media reactions more than anything else. You know she could always just not make baseless accusations on social media and taken it to lawyer like any other person would have. Makes me doubt the whole thing.
DeleteThe Gamers Nexus video alone had detailed evidence of malfeasance, factual errors, lack of quality control, and overwork perpetrated by LMG. It was honestly an outstanding piece of journalism for a "gaming hardware" channel. So even setting aside the sexual assault allegation, which I assume is currently being vetted, LMG has been proven to be a shitty organization on a large scale. So, no, it is demonstrably not "small issues".
DeleteIt seems like that first video made a lot of assumptions and didn't even tall to LMG first before putting that video out. Honestly, it did seem like they were making mountains out of molehills.
DeleteReally? Overworking employees. Mishandling prototypes and even a 3090Ti sent my Billet Labs. toxic work culture and sexual assault. Small issues... imagine saying that out loud
DeleteThese are not small issues and that's just the start. AT MOST, you could consider their ongoing mistakes(due to overwork) on videos as a small issue blown out of proportion, but they're also a massive channel and they've done nothing to fix these issues for so long, that even that isn't a small issue anymore.
I imagine LMG thinks exactly like you do, it's all small issues so they just ignore it
All companies overwork employees. I have worked at 4 - 100000+ employee companies and have been overworked during crunch times for shipping products and I'm glad I contributed to the company's success.
DeleteEmployment at such companies is voluntary. These are not day labor wage jobs where the employee doesn't have a choice or is trapped between just one job and homelessness.
All companies make mistakes and it is OK, when they realize the mistake and fix the situation. LMG auctioning the hardware was a mistake, but they did make all attempts to fix the situation and will surely try to rebuild their relationship with the hardware manufacturer.
The sexual harassment might be a big issue, but the details are just not being presented properly. It is very hard for me to understand exactly what happened. But I understand that is the nature of sexual harassment - tough to explain.
LMG started out as a small company filled with men who love tech. It is going to go through the growing pains of becoming a large company. It will take time. Especially switching their internal culture because that is just built into the kind of people involved in the industry. There really are extremely few tech blog companies that employ women and are not fraught with such issues.
I wonder if Linus is regretting not taking that $100 million buyout offer...
ReplyDeleteBut that's also the difference between real entrepreneurs and ideas traders. A real entrepreneur doesn't quit, he fixes the problem. Because where there're people there's going to be problems at some point in time; you have to deal with them and show you have the courage and the energy to address it.
DeleteBut these problems have been happening for a long time.
DeleteLinus is only addressing these problems after Steve called him out.
Where was Linus' courage and energy to fix problems a week ago? A month ago? Six months ago?
He should have noticed these problems and made changes on his own in private.
Instead... he waited until he got called out and now he has to attempt these fixes in public. And he's also losing an entire week of Youtube revenue.
He is not losing out on revenue. LMG videos are still out there making him money everyday.
DeleteYeah you're right. Older videos will continue to make some money.
DeleteBut for a company that makes 20 new videos every week... they're gonna miss out on a lot of revenue during this week. This will be a tough week.
And it didn't have to happen. This was an unforced error.
And he doubled- and tripled-down on his and LMG's behavior for days before finally conceding that there were problems. And I assume that was only because LMG now has actual corporate management that can step in and tell him to shape up.
DeleteWelp, this should save me on several hours of YT viewing going forward.
ReplyDeleteThe GN testing accuracy stuff was not a big deal to me, because like, anyone should be able to tell that accuracy is not their forte, or even the point of their videos, it is just wacky energy entertainment that is connected somewhat to the tech industry. The appropriate amount of salt should pretty easily be taken.
But Madison's claims, their kind of lukewarm initial response to the Billet Labs thing as well as the jokey tone of their response to are all pretty damning, in my opinion. Until I hear from 3rd party journalists that they have meaningfully turned a page on their obviously problematic culture and workplace issues, I think I am pretty much done with LTT.
I do really like this screwdriver though, so I will keep using it.
As GN specifically mentions in his original video, LTT claims that they want to move from entertainment into the accurate testing space. They spent a huge sum of money on a shiny new lab and equipment. The implication here is "look at this shiny new lab, trust us bro". They have a reputation built up, and it is solely based on entertainment, but people that don't know any better will just think that this big Youtube channel now has an expensive testing lab, their results must be precise and accurate.
DeleteWhen you have that much influence, accountability is key and no amount of salt can be taken, because you can make or break the reputations of other brands and companies just by putting out one Youtube video that is factually inaccurate.
I very much see that point, but I can also see this current period of time as a transitional one, so I think that some leeway on that front would still be appropriate. That is my personal outlook on it, though, and I totally understand where one is coming from if they want to apply a harder line to it.
DeleteThe Billet thing is also a bit of BS. If you actually look through the full story, you'll find that Billet Labs was completely fine with LMG holding onto the prototype, that was until they found out that LMG didn't like it, and only then asked for it back, claiming that they only offered it so it could be used in future builds. I'm no lawyer but you don't get to give terms on how someone can use your stuff when you literally hand it over for keeps (that is, not unless you outlined those terms prior to giving it, which by all accounts they did not). Also, the fact that they were effectively gifting something on the condition that they get a good review is objectively shady as f. I'm on Team Linus for that one.
DeleteMadison's experience, on the other hand, is pretty damning and honestly all I need to hear to be done with LMG for good.
You're misrepresenting the Billet thing yourself. What Billet was fine with when they gave LTT the block, 3090ti and instruction manual isn't relevant after LTT tested on a 4090 instead. Billet provided the waterblock, 3090ti, and instructions to LTT in exchange for LTT reviewing those things together. LTT didn't didn't do that, so of course they'd want the prototype back to give to someone else who would review it with the right card.
DeleteWhile they were ok with LTT trying it on a 4090 to see if it would work, they certainly weren't ok with it not being retested on a 3090ti after it was determined that it definitely doesn't fit the 4090 properly.
As far as I'm aware, Billet *always* wanted the prototype back. They currently state that production on the waterblock is stalled due to them no longer having access to their best prototype, so it certainly sounds like they always planned for the prototype to come back to them.
DeleteIn the emails shown in the apology video billet labs clearly states that they let linus keep it with the intention of him using it in future builds, which imo throws the "they used it wrong" argument about 3090vs4090 because surely if they gave him a prototype so he could use it in future builds they must have known it would end up being used with a non 3090 at some point.
DeleteFrankly, I do not trust any portion of the apology video as being the 'unvarnished' truth. Throughout this entire charade, Linus and LMG have attempted to manipulate the perception of events, and they've been caught doing so. Given everything else, why on earth would I trust them? Specifically, while they've shown an excerpt from some emails - including revealing information that Billet Labs wanted to keep secret - we do not have the full chain. Therefore, we do not know if there were other conditions attached. For example, a stipulation that LMG tested the prototype with the GPU that Billet *sent over for that purpose*. Or, perhaps, that Billet Labs might have a right to request the prototype back.
DeleteAt this stage, I think it's right to take *everything* that LMG says about this entire episode with a huge pinch of salt. Until there's actual evidence that LMG has turned over a new leaf, there is just no reason to trust them.
That doesn't make sense. It's a 3090 block. You don't mix and match coolers even between the same generation if you wanna be careful. Linus is just a hack.
DeleteEven if you had a point here, they auctioned the prototype of a small startup. Which not only could they not recoup the costs of, but a competitor could have bought to reverse engineer. I dunno why anyone is bothering defending this part.
Madisons experience is one side of the story. Do you believe every disgruntled employee after they quit a job, then whine on social media how hard it was for them to keep up with their workload? Doubtful
DeleteThe Gamers Nexus video makes a very good case why the testing accuracy stuff is a big deal. However entertaining they set out to be, LMG claims to perform accurate testing. So it's 100% fair to call them out when their practices are revealed to be horrible.
DeleteHell, this whole thing started when LMG made a social post where they boasted about accurate testing in their own lab, "unlike other channels". That was apparently the last straw for Hardware Unboxed and GN.