“ Second, the technology scene privileges a wealthy, white, male experience of technology. Although the larger Silicon Valley area boasts a racially and economically diverse workforce, within the ―tech scene,‖ the most celebrated members are usually white (sometimes Asian or South Asian) and primarily from wealthy or middle-class backgrounds.4 This community emphasizes meritocracy and frames virtues like intelligence and persistence as gender neutral. Despite this, the Web 2.0 press, blogs, and conferences consistently portray entrepreneurs as rich, young, white men, prescribing a normative maleness to entrepreneurialism which systematically excludes women and people of color from the networks necessary to achieve success. Women‘s contributions to technology are further devalued through gossip, backstage talk, and media discourse. This suggests potential conflicts between the community that creates social technologies and the values of egalitarianism and participation these technologies purportedly espouse.
