I’m not an idealist considering becoming a volunteer or take a significant pay cut to work on a specific cause, but I don’t want my OKRs to be tied to things that actively makes the world what I consider a worse place. I don’t want my salary to increase the more “whales” we catch, whether that’s an online casino, an addictive mobile game or a crypto currency.I’m concerned about the environment but I don’t consider myself to have very radical political views in general. These are areas I’d want to avoid. What’s left? What areas could I pursue that are also potentially doing interesting things online?- AdTech. Most obviously the known harm some social media can cause to democracy by fueling rage, but also systematic economic problems related to e-commerce below.
- Most e-commerce. Trying to get people to buy material things they don’t need. Bad for the environment.
- Crypto. Companies fall into one of 3 categories: terrible for the environment, a Ponzi scheme, or neutral but legitimizing or encouraging projects in the previous two categories.
- FinTech/e-commerce platforms. Trying to get people to buy stuff they can’t afford, on credit, and don’t need. Bad for the environment and society.
- Gambling. Duh.
- Gaming with in-app-purchasing. Exploiting people prone to addiction or with low impulse control. Immoral and bad for society.
- Fossil-heavy industries. Air travel, booking and similar. We need to fly occasionally, but I now celebrate when flying is reduced. I don’t want a bonus to change that.I’m not judging anyone, I’ve worked with several of the above myself. I just want to do things differently after 15 years.This is not a discussion thread about my claims above, I respect if you consider them ridiculous, but we’re not very likely to have a fruitful discussion on this particular topic.