I always wince when I see someone lament that “there are no words” to express something. Words: These are the tools humans possess, before all others, for expression. To claim that they have no power is to forsake the mutual compassion that communication affords.
And so I winced on Tuesday, upon seeing nearly identical responses to the YouTube shooting from Google CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, on Twitter. “There are no words to describe the tragedy that occurred today,” Pichai began. Almost two hours later Wojcicki started a tweet, “There are no words to describe how horrible it was to have an active shooter @YouTube today.” Both statements went on to offer sympathy and support to the YouTube community, along with gratitude to first responders. They are nearly identical and reek of collaborative authorship by a corporate public-relations army.
Americans are used to being disappointed by the words of politicians on matters of public welfare. Lately, they are also increasingly disappointed in the actions of Silicon Valley CEOs—just ask Mark Zuckerberg, or Travis Kalanick, or Jeff Bezos. But it’s less common to be let down by tech executives’ words. This is new, and it means something: Silicon Valley is not just a massive industry, but also one of the centers of global culture. And yet, it appears to have nothing to say when that culture is attacked directly.