OpenWeb Reviews

Dysfunctional, chaotic and utterly abusive company with a delusional CEO. Leadership (mostly white men) promotes a “hustle” culture where people are visibly burned out and the turnover rate is insane. Good luck trying to create healthy boundaries, work life balance is not a thing here. The product itself is not innovative but you’ll be told over and over told it’s in the same ranks as twitter and that you’re “saving the web.” Save yourself and your mental health by not working here.

The company sells both prospective employees and customers on the concept of eliminating toxicity online. Now, of course anyone with eyes and ears can tell you that this is an incredibly pollyannaish idea in the 2020's, that is likely becoming less possible with each passing day. However, it can't help that the company doesn't seem all that invested in their mission to begin with. The features that OpenWeb pitches (machine-learning, automated comment moderation) are simply not advanced enough - and likely doesn't exist yet - for such a massive undertaking, and the alternative solution that they provide (community or self-moderation) is inherently flawed: a "moderated" conversation should not solely expose the opinions that are either shared/upvoted by other commenters, or by someone who could potentially be the author of the story that the comment is referencing. In addition, a company that claims to be invested in making the internet a safer/healthier place would not continue to partner with, and monetize, publishers that are actively engaging in hate speech, harassment, and general online toxicity. Obviously every company has to be profit-driven to a certain extent, but the discrepancy between the company's value pitch and client list is miles wide, in some cases.