What David Heinemeier Hansson thinks about social media
Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals, and creator of Omarchy.
Everything they publish, on ppll ↗
David Heinemeier Hansson did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
9 dated positions, 2022 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what David Heinemeier Hansson has said — not written or endorsed by them.
The shading behind a date shows how recently it was said: full within a month, empty after three years.
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Their wordsFor every reddit doomer, there's a hundred quiet bloomers. Online discourse is dominated by malcontents and their neuroses. But the real world is full of people leaning into the future with optimism.
- 2 months earlier
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Their wordsWhat's broken now on the social platforms is that my followers don't see anything I post unless it goes medium viral. Because everyone is now in the algorithmic feed.
↗DHH: How to Build a Profitable Company Without Losing Controlyoutube.com 10th of 15 in this recording
- 19 months earlier
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Their wordsWhile America is recovering from the authoritarian grip on free speech in terms of both social media policies and broader social consequences
↗The social media censorship era is over (for now)world.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
- 15 months earlier
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Their wordsYou know how they say social media isn't real life? Rails World was the perfect illustration of that
- 11 months earlier
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Their wordsI still think social media by and large operate to the detriment of society
↗The delusional demands of some Twitter employeesworld.hey.com
- 8 months earlier
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Their wordsThe Russian invasion of Ukraine is at once reaffirming all the ills of social media and showing its utterly unique capacity to give a direct voice to anyone around the world
↗The other side of social mediaworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsThe rally behind shutting Russia out of SWIFT, Germany approving both direct delivery of weapons and a dramatic increase in military spending going forward, the joint closing of the air space, and other new sanctions seemingly dropping every hour, does feel like it owes its urgency to the depth of public support the Ukrainian media campaign is fast activating
↗The other side of social mediaworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 2 days earlier
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Their wordsMight the next wave be abandoning social media altogether, and finding meaning in smaller groups again
↗Dangerous conversations going privateworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 3 weeks earlier
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Their wordsI think most people already know this, but I don't think we have any idea of how bad it really is
The shading behind a date fills in quarters: said within a month, six months, a year, or three years. Empty means more than three years ago. It says when, not whether it still holds — a change of mind is marked on the claim itself.
Striped means we only know the words existed by that date; they may be older.