I joined Facebook 7 years ago as an IC3, and am still around so you could probably do the math.

Had the same vibe to me when I was a new grad (well, maybe a less polished one) and got a lot of respect then. I also knew which people I enjoyed working with and trusting without ever knowing their level. I could make an educated guess of course. But those cases when your guess is wrong are the important ones.

This is all not to say there's not plenty of issues with this system, and I totally get where your snark is coming from, but I would personally still stand by this idea over many of the alternatives.

Good that it’s working well for you! :)