Blind has long been a fixture in the tech world—a valuable hub for company gossip, internal leaks, pay transparency, and shedding light on the stuff leadership would rather keep under wraps. At least, that’s how it started.

And it’s not like tech is the only industry with this kind of anonymous forum. Finance has Wall Street Oasis. Consulting has Fishbowl. Every industry has its own backchannel.

To be fair, Blind is still used for those original purposes. But it’s also become... something else.

Let’s start with a simple example. These aren’t cherry-picked posts. These are real ones I pulled straight off the front page of Blind on the day this article was written. First, we’ve got someone evaluating a new job offer at Databricks, asking about the work-life balance and culture because they just had a baby. Changing companies is a big decision, and it gets even more complex with a newborn. Given the current tech landscape in 2025, this is a valid question. And it perfectly captures what Blind was meant to do: create transparency among peers without fear of corporate rules or retaliation.

Then, right after that, we take a hard left turn. There's a post from a young man sharing his investment portfolio losses and expressing how it means he’ll never be happy and never have a successful relationship or marriage.

And honestly, this is a pretty tame post by Blind standards. Scroll a little further and you might stumble into the "manosphere", some sketchy dating advice, or even just some good old-fasioned, straight-up racism.

Here’s the question: Is this good for anyone? Is anyone reading that and feeling better about themselves? Probably not. It’s not lost on me that part of the post linked above is rooted in sarcasm. I'm "hip." I know about "memes." But that sarcasm is rooted in genuine feelings across this forum and within the tech industry in general.

Posts like this just stoke outrage, anxiety, and insecurity in the reader. Outrage over how absurd that post is, and how your “peer group” could be obsessed with such asinine topics like investment portfolios and their impact on relationships. Anxiety over whether you're progressing fast enough in your career. Insecurity about whether others are moving ahead of you, or if things are fair.

These are all emotionally important topics that shouldn't be minimized. In industries filled with high achievers—whether in law, finance, medicine, tech, or others—these questions are natural. You care about your future, your family, and maybe even your competition. But what’s the best way to address those feelings? Is it by doomscrolling through the worst, most private insecurities of your peers, only to amplify your own? Probably not. There's actually research showing that doomscrolling can make you more depressed.

Why are people drawn to these types of posts in the first place? I’m not entirely sure, but I’ve got a few guesses.

First, there’s clinical research showing that negative headlines drive more engagement than positive ones. It’s rooted in human nature. We’re wired to focus on bad information as a form of self-preservation.

Second, I suspect that lot of Blind users, myself included in this category, feel a looming and often unrepentant sense responsibility in their lives. Whether it’s providing for their family, validating their ego, impressing their peers, or some combination of all three, these pressures add up. And many of them carry those emotional burdens silently—either because they’re too insecure to acknowledge them or they don’t have the right tools or relationships to talk about them. So where do they go? An anonymous forum filled with others who feel the same way, and before long, it turns into an echo chamber of nonsense. Let’s not forget that today’s 20- and 30-somethings grew up in Call of Duty lobbies. So of course there’s a healthy dose of completely out-of-pocket comments and trolling mixed in.

Go outside. Clear your head. Focus on your real-life relationships with family, friends, and colleagues. Disconnecting from the constant noise can help you regain perspective and ease the pressure of career and online comparisons. Sometimes, the best way to address your anxieties isn't by scrolling through them, but by stepping away and grounding yourself in what's real—the people and relationships around you. And maybe stop using Blind as a dumping ground for every passing anxiety and insecurity.

Put another way: go touch grass, nerds.