Every time compensation comes up on HN, people come out of the woodwork quoting some super high outlier salary that someone they know makes, and then they extrapolate that to "all FAANG software engineers must make $500K". Sometimes they quote that "anecdote aggregation" website whose name I won't even mention as evidence that these super high outlier salaries are the norm.
As far as I am aware, the data powering these sites (and HN's comments) are voluntary and self-reported, and there is no correction for this self-selection bias. Few people making average or below average compensation really want to admit it or post about it in public, so you're only going to see evidence of above-average salaries, biasing the resulting average figures.
As far as I am aware, the data powering these sites (and HN's comments) are voluntary and self-reported, and there is no correction for this self-selection bias. Few people making average or below average compensation really want to admit it or post about it in public, so you're only going to see evidence of above-average salaries, biasing the resulting average figures.