YouTube Channel Linus Tech Tips’ Inaccuracies And Sexual Harassment Allegations, Explained
Linus Tech Tips will pause uploading new content for one week after it faced allegations of inaccurate product reviews and sexual harassment in the workplace this week.
Crazy how much shit dropped on LTT simply from a gamer nexus video. It’s beautiful
I mean that shit was steamy. And Steve was so pissed, for a dude whose usually pretty chill, it really said a lot about the gravity of his accusations.
And all this because LMG started the war by calling them shit. You get what's coming to you eventually, I guess.
Glass houses
It's like Harvey Weinstein, people in the industry knew he was a slimy piece of shit for years but he wielded too much power and speaking out was the death of your career. So few did.
Once it was out in the public press, the floodgates of people coming forward with similar stories opened up.
Imo none of this is even remotely news to me, one of LTTs most popular videos is that "I've never been this angry at someone and fired them before" where he had taken some new guy to go to his house and install a bunch of writing and stuff, totally outside any and all expectations of his job, and he'd done a not so stellar job, and it's like, what did you expect? He's not an electrician, he was like some sort of video editor or something? And you're the fucking CEO? How do you think the guy felt? Oh right, you don't give a single fuck. I don't know man, that's giving of some small business owner psychopath vibes.
Yeah, that one hit me weird also. Like there's videos of him doing installs and stuff at other employees houses, so maybe that's just a culture thing, but it's still weird. Like can you imagine one of the late-night folks making a joke about how the cue card guy screwed up installing his dishwasher, but not meaning it as a joke? Like you don't screw with peoples livelihood.
Like if you had a glass instsall company, and some of your employees did a sloppy job on your personal shower door, you might have a talk with them, implement an improvement plan, etc because it affects clients experiences. What you wouldn't do is put them on blast for views. And that's only because it's relevant to their actual work. Last I checked LTT doesn't offer install services.
Yeah, I saw this coming at least 5 years ago.
It’s the way Linus talks and acts, how their whole business revolves around a parasocial relationship with the viewers.
He actually became what he hated about NCIX so much.
Probably not Forbes headline Linus would have wanted.
To quote a couple of 20th century philosophers: Mick and Keith.
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you might find
You get what you need
Yeah. I don't know if this will produce change, but saying what they're saying is the best first step. I'm sure we'll all be watching for follow through.
Incidently, it's a good thing that Linus Sebastian recently handed over the role of chief executive to an experienced manager. I think it would have been very bad for Linus and the company for someone who has acknowledged being ill suited to running a company to try to handle this.
Dude probably didn’t want a Forbes headline at all. I don’t think his personality holds up well to basic scrutiny for the public at large. If my dad for instance asks me about him he’s already lost.
I think it’s sad. All of it. Linus projected an image of a friendly geek when the channel was smaller. The first cracks I saw in that image appeared after covid in which I assume the channel (just as the rest of youtube) grew extremely.
Since then I noticed „slip ups“ where he went edgy and kind of lost part of his friendliness. I assumed it was because he was overwhelmed with his job as ceo since that job takes a heavy toll. I know from experience.
But the fact that he (and his wife and the new ceo) didn’t do anything against the obvious transgressions that were carried out under his watch (against this vendor as well as former employees, some of which have posted on youtube) is his (their) responsibility.
It’s just sad to see them making the same mistakes (being careless in the wrong department) as others before them.
For me it was visit to Louis Rossman https://youtube.com/watch?v=Shn7LdIrViQ
Truth is, I didn't know of Linus than, was only fan of Louis, but the way Linus was acting throughout that video was just unpleasant for me. I wouldn't wanna be in Louis' shoes than.
Second was recently in that Linux challenge where, I was convinced, he was working hard to find that bug and show to everyone how bas he is. His complaint of Linux was that it allowed him to delete software Linux told him not to delete. Yeah... cool.
Yes, the first one is familiar. I was kind of ok with it at the time but linus‘ condescending demeanor was kind of already obvious. I wrote it off at the time since I‘m autistic and also often get told I come across condescending. There you see why people need labels… we wouldn’t take it as personal if he was openly autistic (which I believe he is).
I didnt see the linux challenge but I saw when he wanted to change his gaming pc. Was it that? I would love if was more positive towards open source and stuff. But he‘s on the other side of the fence I suppose.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=Shn7LdIrViQ
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Remember he went to China with that dude who put a usb on a iPhone?
Yeah again true colours
So really, it's not just me that found him to be producing smarmy and careless content? My first views were of his various challenges - where they consistently 'proved' that people can't do things in an OS that they don't have experience with, which means they'd be better off doing it in a much worse OS that they used since they were kids - and therefore it's better.
I really liked Nexus's video - though it didn't help me as I wouldn't waste time on LTT. I don't like or trust these coroporate video mills, any more than I trust Google/Youtube - they don't give a toss as long as the money flows and they didn't get sued.
So the careless content didnt really matter much - so long that they were still a tech entertainment youtube channel. But with the advent of LTT Labs, theyre trying to push themselves into a more reputable tech reviewer space and thats where the problems arise.
Everyone you like will disappoint you someday. Fuck you Linus.
I just hope Louis Rossman doesn't snap.
Please don't Louis 🥺
Guy basically just puts out anger content now. He's a real hero who's fighting an important fight but he's just inundated with bullshit and seems is stuck seeing everything through shit colored glasses lately.
I also hope he will pull out of this phase.
I even jokingly said to my friend "That's why New York can act badly." thinking with all that shit he was feeling better in NYC.
He accomplished a lot in his life, that is also not easy to accept.
Not everyone be any means, but if you admire narcissistic extroverts then sure, you’re always going to be disappointed.
I think that's usually the type of person who puts themselves out there in the public's eye to be consumed though
As depressive introvert I can say no one ever got dissapointed in me.
Generally, I've moved to just enjoying people's work and trying not to blindly admire any public figure. It's a constant effort since something in our wiring makes us want to follow people we like. But in today's society I think it's best to just assume everyone is flawed up front. That eases the feelings of betrayal later when they screw up
What does this have to do with technology?
The YouTube channel Linus Tech Tips is a very large part of the tech space, reviewing, and making videos about technology. This is actually bigger than that as it speaks to Linus media group, of which Linus tech tips is one of many tech related channels.
Don’t really give a shit about the water block thing, sounds like drama for the sake of drama. The toxic environment and sexual harassment allegations are pretty serious though.
You think selling something that isn't yours, after you told the owner you would return it, is drama for the sake of drama?
The water block is just a product that wasn't handled as per the vendor agreement, a sign of weaknesses in internal processes, but not consequential for anyone not involved directly. Like they've had thousands of products through the org and maintained these positive relationships with large vendors. The idea that one time a miscommunication or agreement wasn't handled properly isn't that spectacular or even unusual.
Employees being treated shitty is a labor issue that has ramifications in how anti-discrimination laws are interpreted and applied. There's potential financial consequences for workers and exploitation.
It's also not out of the question the employee who screwed up the vendor agreement in the water block issue, is one of the people trying to bring these workplace discrimination issues to light. I don't think we know that level of detail but the fact that they would basically be forgiven for that, if it was known they were being treated poorly when that happened, shows how the discrimination issue is more significant.
People sure love drama. If folks paid as much attention to their own lives and own situation as they do to LTT's troubles the world would be a better place.
That's an optimistic viewpoint while also dismissing the issues at hand.
By creating that comment you are the epitome of drama