Only girl at hackathon gets a Post-it love note and people can’t decide if it’s super-cute or plain dorky

At some point, we’ve all likely heard women share their experiences of casual sexism in male-dominated industries. Yet, there are high chances of someone genuinely appreciating men for their confidence, personality, or even their looks. However, it is a slippery slope as some of these praises may underscore a deeper issue of objectification or lack of professionalism in such workplaces. A similar incident happened at a hackathon event when a woman was approached by another male participant. The friend of the woman at the event, Rona Wang, a compiler engineer—who goes by @ronawang on X—shared the Post-it note online, sparking a debate.

In the post, which has garnered nearly 62 million views, Wang shed light on the disproportionate representation between men and women in the tech world. The engineer from San Francisco, California, emphasized how receiving a Post-it note was uncalled for during the hackathon. “My friend was the only girl at a hackathon, and somebody gave her this note,” she wrote, adding a skull emoji to end her single-sentence post. Notably, hackathon events are known for bringing together programmers, developers, designers, and even founders to discuss tech innovations, products and industry connections.

However, the man chose to approach Wang’s friend on a personal level, asking her out. “Hey! I think you're REALLY cute... and I LOVE those 2 braids in the back of your hair,” he wrote, heaping praises on her looks, instead of talent or skills. He continued with a pickup line: “Let me take you out sometime. I'd love a lesson from you on how to hack. LOL.” The note didn’t end there; the man also included his contact information, hoping to start a conversation. While the woman didn’t take the hackathon attendee’s gesture seriously, her friend decided to share it with the online community, sparking a heated debate.

When someone in the comments section suggested that the man was likely encouraged by his friends to give the note to the sole female participant, Wang replied, “Bro should have been focusing on the hackathon instead.” Her disappointment was visible when @avgspacelover suggested, “This is how most people got married in America two generations back.” The compiler engineer replied, “I didn’t even know they had hackathons two generations ago.” When someone in the comments said they should text the man, Wang replied, "She has a boyfriend already!"

However, the post was subjected to criticism as well, with many claiming there was nothing wrong or unethical about the man’s gesture. “If you try to politely flirt in America, they publicly shame you in front of millions of people,” @uncledoomer assumed. “To be honest, some of the coolest couples I know met through these types of environments,” @techno0ptimist suggested. “In an era of online dating, this is pretty awesome. Good for the guy to write this note,” @jackie_17_2003 agreed. 

You can follow Rona Wang (@ronawang) on X for more lifestyle content.