To the Pied Pipers of Silicon Valley – Please Stop

The Twitterverse was aflutter on Wednesday, particularly among technology’s ruling class, with the news of President Obama’s appearance on Reddit’s AMA (Ask Me Anything).  In case you missed it, President Obama spent 30 minutes taking questions on Reddit and answering them.  It was everyman’s chance to touch the robe of the king as he passed by.  What made it super cool is that he was using technology awesomeness (Reddit) as his microphone.

The cultural elites of Silicon Valley were giddy as school girls as they filled up their Twitter feeds to let us know exactly when and where to show up and how awesome it was going to be.

I follow many of these folks on Twitter because they have incredibly insightful things to say about technology and where we are headed as an industry.  And yet, it’s as if they just can’t help feeling the weight of their position or hearing the sound of their own voice.  Certainly their political views are important to those of us who are following them.

Here’s the truth: We don’t care what you think about politics, and we really don’t care who you think is the best person to vote for in the upcoming presidential election.  It’s really as simple as that.   If it’s so important to be heard, how about setting up separate channels where people who want to know your personal world view can sit at your feet and listen.

Otherwise, please shut up about your politics.  Despite your obvious feelings of self-importance, we really don’t care who you are voting for.  Tell us how to make better investments.  Tell us what you think about the next trends in tech.  Give us insights into how you do what you do, and what has made you successful.  It’s why we are listening.

Stop spamming us with your political views.  We can make up our own minds about who to vote for, believe it or not.  It’s at least one way in which we are (gasp!) just like you.