As I was making breakfast this morning, a social media post about why developers keep autoplaying videos on their sites was brought to my attention. There were some fair counterarguments in the comments section about the clients’ wishes, and some less constructive arguments that can be categorized under the “Just say no!” category.

Prior to that splash of investigative “wisdom”, I saw an existential question being posted on Hacker News. Putting aside how incongruous this last sentence sounds (not to mention the post), I asked myself what makes programmers think they are so special?

I know some programmers think of themselves as craftsmen or artists, as if their work is somehow a work of art. Newsflash, it’s not. First of all, most artists become famous after they’re dead, which obviously makes their ability to reap the rewards of their work particularly hard. Now imagine a world where legacy software becomes invaluable because the author or the entire team have just kicked the bucket. You can almost hear their colleagues saying “there will never be another to-do list like that ever again”.

Unfortunately, these “artists” will never miss an opportunity to quote Spiderman’s uncle, and say that we as programmers have great power and great responsibility. You can always say “no” to your clients and employers whenever you have to do something that hurts your delicate sensibilities. In theory, yes. In practice, it’s a little bit different, but we’re getting there.

Let’s say you’ve done your homework and prepared and air-tight case for your employer that goes beyond the regular “I don’t like this feature”. Unless you present an alternative that makes financial sense to the business (finance is the Esperanto of the real world), it’s either you, or the feature.

I know this sounds a bit cynical, but that’s not my intention. It’s also not an excuse to turn a blind eye on unethical behavior that should be stopped. It’s just how the world works. Unless the thing you rebel against is not causing substantial damage to the business or its users in a way that harms the business, you’ll be replaced with someone who can and will do it because there’s rent to pay or just doesn’t care.

If you really want to compare this line of work with another industry in hopes of determining your position in the hierarchy, please stop using arts, construction and manufacturing industries when there are far better analogies:

Drug Dealers and IT are the only people who call their customers “users”

It’s not a coincidence. If you’ve never seen The Wire, I suggest you take a good hard look and see where you would fit in the supply chain or the society at large. My guess, programmers would be the ones who cut the raw product and mix it with various other substances to produce different versions of the product (or the beat cops/task forces if the first option is too denigrating to you), but that’s just me. Either way, the programmer’s impact on the company’s policy is limited by design, so don’t expect autoplaying videos will disappear en masse.

As to existential questions, neither your title nor your salary makes you special. Programmers are paid well because there is a high demand for a certain set of skills, and a low supply. It may change over time, it may not. In the meantime, find a hobby and relax. It’s just business.