Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

521–530 of 573 posts

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#521

Post by brbrodude »

test1235 wrote: post #365
taneq wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As MLK explains, the point is to create a more general disruption so that everyone has to take notice of an issue they might otherwise ignore The problem with this approach is that unless you do it in a way that's relevant to the original issue, you're just dragging innocent people into your fight and victimizing them. Depending on how much of an asshat you are to them (like, say, stranding them for several hours a…

I felt the London Tube strikes went this way. The arguments put forward for each strike never seemed convincing enough to be causing everyone so much inconvenience.

The media coverage plays a good part in this. At least here in Brazil it's very common for them to evade the motivation of the protesters 'bigly' and put a big focus on how it's disturbing others and etc... The result is predicable.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#522

Post by brbrodude »

Tritrin wrote: post #347
taneq wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As MLK explains, the point is to create a more general disruption so that everyone has to take notice of an issue they might otherwise ignore The problem with this approach is that unless you do it in a way that's relevant to the original issue, you're just dragging innocent people into your fight and victimizing them. Depending on how much of an asshat you are to them (like, say, stranding them for several hours a…

It was only 1 hour. Doesn't anyone ever protest in America? It feels like this concept is so new to you. Yes - some people might be less sympathetic, those are not the people the protest set out to influence. It's the people who haven't made up their minds yet, the people who think that "This will all blow over soon" and want to get on with their lives in their bubble. They NEED to be inconvenienced to react, to make…

It seems it's pure misdirection at this point. I also notice that people sort of become "trained"(unconsciously) to be incredibly sensible to anything that may deligitimize any sort of critical action or against the status-quo in general but then using a whole different weight for other stuff(maybe because they're "normal"). Results seems to be: demobilization, immobilization.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#524

Post by brbrodude »

cdmckay wrote: post #10
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #3

Dan Primack summarised this well; Uber failed on messaging: "Uber has done a lot of questionable things over the years, but its actions this past weekend vis-a-vis Trump's immigration ban weren't among them. An actual timeline from Saturday, which may differ from what you saw on social media: • 4:20pm ET: CEO Travis Kalanick sent email to employees. It stopped short of explicitly opposing the ban, but did say: (1) Th…

I think the issue people have isn't the surge pricing so much as the fact that Uber didn't participate in the strike, and thus profited from it.

To me its clear its about the surge pricing. Because it means they weren't neutral, they picked their side against the taxi-drivers solidarity when they opted to undercut the strike by making a promotion for the passengers. How is this hard to understand? Lyft may have not joined they strike and nobody expects a business to not behave like a business(in the sense: make some press release stating a position or something but operate normally or just don't get involved or do it indirectly like Lyft did of making a donation etc) but they did remained neutral instead of going the disgusting-profitteer-pig-Ill-try-to-win-some-regardless-of-anything way of uber. It's so damn simple.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#525

Post by makomk »

general_ai wrote: post #58

Kalanick and Musk are basically the only two remaining adults in SV. Musk basically said on twitter, "I'll go and talk to the guy". Everyone else is more concerned with political correctness and virtue signaling. Hundred thousand bombs dropped into five countries on that list -- not a goddamn peep from anybody. 2150 people killed by drones -- same. Iraqi refugees banned for half a year -- no one has even heard of it.…

Some of the celebrities who've been using those bombed Syrians to attack Trump did speak up before - in support of the bombing. J. K. Rowling, in particular, was quite vocal in insisting that anyone who claimed that politicians who supported to bomb them were morally in the wrong or that voters should hold those who did responsible was supporting evil misogynistic harassment because someone might take such language as justification to harass MPs, some of whom were women.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#526

Post by rosser »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #246
rosser wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of them, sure. Maybe even most, though I don't think so; all of the people I know who are involved in this stuff are very well aware of Obama's militarism. But all of them? That's just lazy. And wrong. You don't have to protest every cause to protest any cause. You can even protest things that, taken together, demonstrate you hold ideologically inconsistent views, if you want. That's on you.

>all of the people I know who are involved in this stuff are very well aware of Obama's militarism. That doesn't help your argument. They were aware Obama killed a quarter of a million people and did nothing. Meanwhile Trump inconveniences some travelers and somehow he's the monster worth protesting. Get real.

You have no idea what my friends may or may not have protested, or otherwise done, in the past.

I'll thank you to reconsider your projections of people you've never met.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#527

Post by aglavine »

jayajay wrote: post #327
couchand wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless they're perfect substitutes with no meaningful network effects, in which case the real question is: who is cheapest?

touche! Edit: Well, I slightly disagree. Even if the product doesn't require mass-adoption to be useful, it could surely benefit from branding/marketing and viral adoption to make it the desired product, in which case, it does still depend on who does all of that better. Even if Starbucks or Macbooks are more expensive, they have won their audience and increased their effective marketing force.

availabiity might be the killer feature here. Who has more drivers and can get them faster to the customers?

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#528

Post by shiiiiiiiiiiiit »

masklinn wrote: post #301
leereeves wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This wasn't a strike, it was a political protest. By not participating, Uber naturally made enemies among a group of people with a tendency to boycott everyone they disagree with. (I'm not taking sides here, just pointing out that this was a predictable outcome.)

> This wasn't a strike, it was a political protest. The taxis started a strike action (in support of the protest, but a strike nonetheless). > By not participating strike-breaking. > I'm not taking sides here Of course you are.

>Of course you are.

Fuck man, I'm pretty sure he just said he isn't

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#529

Post by bufbupa »

ubernostrum wrote: post #320
general_ai wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, a serious question wouldn't presuppose a particular answer. I think you've made up your mind long before you asked it. But I'll oblige anyway. Virtue signaling in this context means that actions of individuals are directed mostly at people within their political and social group, not outside it. Their main purpose is similar to that of a Facebook "like", to communicate adherence to a shared set of beliefs, not t…

Virtue signaling in this context means that actions of individuals are directed mostly at people within their political and social group, not outside it. Why is this a bad thing? Are you allowing for the possibility that it's easier to eventually sway outsiders if one first builds momentum with a significant group of like-minded people? Isn't it in fact very common to start by getting like-minded people to agree on a…

Not the poster this comment was in reply to, but I feel they made a fair explanation that you simply chose not to consider; perhaps because of how they phrased it? Allow me to rephrase.

The trend this thread is related to (Lyft downloads surge because of #deleteUber) is a blatant hypocrisy. Neither company complied with the taxi boycott, and Uber only removed surge pricing after the strike was scheduled to end.

This leads more pragmatic bystanders to believe that the people involved in this trend aren’t earnestly invested in finding a rational solution. They just want to hop aboard the first petty public trend that superficially signals that they’re backing some side of a divisive debate; even when that bandwagon trend may ultimately turn out to be counterproductive to their professed ideals and objectives!

This is not a problem for one side of the aisle or the other, but both. That tribal group-think is the EXACT same problem that led to a Trump presidency to begin with.

So the only way to move forward in any meaningful sense is to stop this childish nonsense. That means calling a spade a spade (or virtue signaling) when it comes along, and not wasting time/effort with those who are only interested in self-aggrandizing (you, per your comments).

Post reply on HN