People are dishing on Twitter about how much money they make

For May Day, a programmer named Lauren Voswinkel suggested a hashtag, #talkpay, at the site Model View Culture.

Voswinkel is encouraging others to be open about what they do and how much they get paid for it, in part to help with transparency in the notoriously white male industry.

Predictably, the replies are mostly from tech workers, which means the salaries skew higher than in other industries. But a lot of people seem to be happy to share.

#talkpay '98-'04 net 0 consulting (no bnft); '05 @$70k bns, bnft. 10y gradual increased (ask + perform) to'14 @$140k. Now $60k grant + bnfts

- Livia Labate (@livlab) May 1, 2015

The twitter account @OfferLetterIO has been sharing some salaries anonymously.

Anon #Talkpay: Male senior iOS Dev. 2011 -Midwest 50k. 2012 moved to bay area: 90k. Bump to 100k. 2013: 100k. 2014: 135k. Bump to 145k

- Offer Letter (@OfferLetterIO) May 1, 2015

One of the things I noticed in the replies, plus the numerous people who told me privately how much they make, is that lifetime salary isn't necessarily a clear upward trajectory. Lots of people noted that they took a pay cut to do something more rewarding. (This is something I've done personally.)

For example:

2011 Part time FL 40/hr 2012 Interactive Designer 30k 2012 Designer 25/hr 2013 FL 40/hr 2014 Product Designer 75k 2015 Founder ~50k #talkpay

- Rosie Pringle (@mostlyoriginal) May 1, 2015

Anon #talkpay: Front end dev, female, 5+ yrs experience. 2012 $40k politics 2013 $115k + $25k bonuses SF startup 2014 $90k non-profit

- Offer Letter (@OfferLetterIO) May 1, 2015

I also heard from a lot of men who admitted that their wives (or girlfriends) make more than them (I sought out men who had that particular situation, so it's not exactly representative, but I was still surprised how many men responded).

One man, who asked that I keep his name private said his wife is in school now, but for a long time made significantly more than him ("hecka more money"). He said he loved it, but thought that "she felt she had to apologize or be not proud for making more money."

But it's often a gut feeling. "I (and many guys I know) take it to heart if we don't 'wear the pants'... that shouldn't be an excuse for a woman to feel guilt over earning a good wage. And all too often it is," he said.

Hopefully, as it becomes more common, that will change.

Read more about #talkpay here.