A woman who found herself as the only female at a hacking event was given a hand-written note—and the internet is divided in its response.
Rona Wang, a compiler engineer from California, shared the image of a note she said was handed to her friend at a "hackathon" to her X, formerly Twitter, account @ronawang.
"My friend was the only girl at a hackathon & somebody gave her this note," she wrote on the post, shared on January 17.
"My friend, the note recipient, texted me this picture along with a lighthearted suggestion that I post it," Wang told Newsweek.
"Unexpectedly, my post has now become a lightning rod for a heated discussion regarding gender dynamics in tech."
The image showed a pink post-it note with the words: "Hey! I think you're REALLY cute... and I love those 2 braids in the back of your hair. Let me take you out sometimes. I'd love a lesson from you on how to hack. Lol."
The note finished with a phone number, which was blocked out in the post—and it started a major conversation, receiving over 17,000 likes and 4,000 comments as internet users weighed in on the content of the viral post.
"This is how most people got married in America 2 generations back," one user pointed out, with Rona replying humorously: "I didn't even know they had hackathons two generations ago." She also told other commenters that her friend was already in a relationship.
Another asked if Wang's friend "actually know[s] what this man looks like, or is he a mystery person? Other than that, I like it. Giving a girl your number instead of asking for hers seems like a great way to put the choice in her hands without putting pressure on her."
One suggested "if she didn't see his face then this is untrustworthy and strange — you cannot trust an anonymous note with a phone number attached. If he handed her the note in person, then it's a little shy but admirable/normal and doesn't deserve ridicule."
Another agreed it "makes it a little tricky. If I were to give a girl this note, I'd make sure she knows what I look like."
One user suggested: "If you just talk to her, you get a response a lot more quickly," while one said it would have been impressive if he had "written this note in binary."
And many supported the note-writer, as one called it a "major green flag."
"Genuine compliment, appeal to common interest, straightforward, and most importantly, doesn't put her on the spot or demand a response at all," they wrote, adding: "Obviously she's not obligated to date him in any way, but I do hope that guy finds someone".
And another said it was "cute, and plenty of people meet like this."
Others were furious at Wang sharing the note, saying she was "humiliating" the man for trying to "shoot his shot", and others accusing Wang herself of writing the note.
But as Wang told Newsweek: "My intent was not to belittle those who display vulnerability by asking someone out in this way, but to highlight that receiving unsolicited attention when you are the only woman in the room can be extremely uncomfortable."
She said she had received "a varied response" to the post, and had heard "stories from women who have received unwanted romantic or sexual attention in male-dominated professional spaces, but also vitriol from those who are angry that I published this photo."
In 2023, the share of female leaders in tech companies was just 14 percent — a rise from 2015, when the share was 8 percent, according to data from Statista.
And according to a 2024 report, worldwide, only five countries have half or more of their female population working in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
A 2023 report found Mongolia had the highest share of women employed in STEM at 57 percent, followed by Belarus, Lesotho, the U.S. and Barbados.
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