Silicon Valley Change? It Is Happening
March 21, 2022
I read a New York Magazine article which used the phrase “vibe shift.” You can find that story at this link. This is a very hip write up, and the vibe shift is a spotted trend, not to be confused with a spotted crocuta.
I came across this story which has hopped on the vibe shift zoo train: “The Vibe Shift in Silicon Valley.” Now the locale becomes important. The table below provides the vibe shift which existed three years ago and the spotted trend of the vibe shift:
| The Unshifted Vibe | The Shifted Vibe |
| Facebook is the “center” of the digital universe | TikTok, the China-affiliated outfit, is the new center of the universe |
| Info diffuses quickly | Info struggles to be diffused |
| Fix the Web | Replace the Web |
| Data are “mind control” | Data are a “personal liability” |
| The US is the big dog in tech regulation | Europe and Apple are the kings of the rules jungle |
| Tech destroys “our politics” | Tech harms children |
The article says:
Of course, there are many more shifts you could probably name that would support a full-time tech reporter at any publication: the heightened importance of chip manufacturing and innovation; the global supply chain; the post-COVID gig economy; and the decriminalization of psychedelics, which isn’t exactly tech but is definitely tech-adjacent. But when I think about my own coverage, these are the shifts that are guiding it: my evolving sense of where power is moving in tech and the surrounding culture.
What adaptations should one make? Here are a few suggestions:
- Watch TikToks then post your own TikToks in order to immerse and understand the new power center.
- Info does not diffuse. That’s interesting because in my upcoming National Cyber Crime lecture about open source intelligence, information is diffusing and quite a percentage of those data are helpful to investigators.
- I like the “replace” but is the alternative Web 3? How do those Web 3 apps work without ISPs and data centers? They don’t unless one is in a crowd and pals are using mobile based mesh methods. Yeah, rip and replace? Not likely.
- Mind control and a personal liability. Remember Scott McNealy’s observation: Privacy is dead. Get over it. Reality is different from the vibe.
- In the US, government has shifted responsibility for space flight, regulation, and community actions to for profit outfits. In Europe, a clown car of regulators are trying to tame the US outfits which have made less than positive contributions to social cohesion. That’s a responsible path for what and for whom?
- Tech has destroyed politics. Okay. Tech is harming children. Okay. I am not sure politics has been torn apart, and children have been at risk is a well worn rallying point when certain entities want to contain human trafficking and related actions.
What is the situation in Silicon Valley? Here are my observations:
- The Wild West approach to business has irritated quite a few folks, and there is a backlash or techlash if one prefers hippy dippy jargon
- The high school science club approach to decision making has lost its charm. Example: Google is sponsoring an F1 vehicle and the company is probably unaware that two other content centric outfits used this “marketing” so senior executives could sniff fumes and rub shoulders with classy people. And the companies? Northern Light and Autonomy.
- The lack of ethical frameworks has allowed social media companies and third party data aggregators to “nudge” people for the purpose of enriching themselves and gaining influence. Yep, ethical behavior may be making a come back.
- Many in Silicon Valley ignored the message in Jacques Ellul’s book Le bluff technologique. Short summary: Fixing problems with technology spawns new problems which people believe can be fixed by technologies. Ho ho ho.
Vibe shift? How about change emerging from those who are belatedly realizing the inherent problems of the Silicon Valley ethos.
Stephen E Arnold, March 21, 2022
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