Natalie Ponte
2 min readMay 19, 2016

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Thank you for this thoughtful perspective. Frankly, I wish there was more discourse like this on the platform and in the media in general. A couple thoughts:

  • I think a lot of people in Silicon Valley would identify as fiscally conservative (to your point — pro-business, anti-regulation) but strongly socially liberal, which distances them from traditionally conservative politics. I agree that there’s a lot of common ground there and I completely understand why you feel a connection to Silicon Valley.
  • If you’re willing to acknowledge that unconscious bias against conservatives exists, why is it difficult to acknowledge that unconscious bias against other differences exists? As a pretty liberal person, I read the suggested solutions the group proposed and thought to myself that they actually seemed reasonable. I’d love the opportunity to better understand my own political bias and to respectfully interact with more people who have different perspectives from me.

I loved this question: “Has Twitter, Google, or any other Silicon Valley giant invited conservatives to speak, to understand what we are feeling and seeing?”

Often, when I watch Fox or read conservative opinions, it doesn’t seem like I witness that kind of curiosity about difference of thought. When dissenting voices are invited on air, they seem to mostly serve as sacrificial lambs.

My hope would be that this conversation inspires you to think about which populations and people you’ve dismissed in the past. Who would be shocked at an invitation to meet with you? What kind of conversation would you have? How would you view the world differently?

I’d love to read your thoughts after that conversation.

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Natalie Ponte

Irreverence, technology, pop culture and chickens. Ex-Facebook; currently a professional GIF Hunter at Tenor.