"I was trying to figure out how to use the skills I had developed in the world of social change"
About this Quote
The intent reads as self-justification and positioning at once. Hughes isn’t just describing a career pivot; he’s staking a claim to legitimacy in a space that often distrusts tech money. “Trying to figure out” softens the edge, admitting uncertainty while implying seriousness. It’s humility as brand management: he’s learning, he’s listening, he’s not barging in. But the subtext is that social change is something you can optimize, scale, and engineer if you’re smart enough, and that the skills forged in Silicon Valley are neutral instruments rather than value-laden forces.
Context matters because Hughes is a bridge figure between early social media idealism and the later reckoning with platform harm, inequality, and political distortion. His arc into philanthropy and political projects carries the same question many tech elites eventually face: is disruption a moral category or just a business tactic? The line works because it captures that tension without naming it. It’s a confession of motive wrapped in a resume bullet, an attempt to reconcile ambition with conscience in a culture that rewards both but rarely asks how they coexist.
Quote Details
| Topic | Career |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Hughes, Chris. (2026, January 15). I was trying to figure out how to use the skills I had developed in the world of social change. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-use-the-skills-172741/
Chicago Style
Hughes, Chris. "I was trying to figure out how to use the skills I had developed in the world of social change." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-use-the-skills-172741/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I was trying to figure out how to use the skills I had developed in the world of social change." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-was-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-use-the-skills-172741/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.



