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Rides of Glory – Uber Blog (2012)

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Re: Rides of Glory – Uber Blog (2012)

#41

Post by DubiousPusher »

striking wrote: post #12

To me, it's not even the use of data per se that is most creepy about this post. Really, the tone of the essay seems to revel in "having 'fun' with user data," as if a sophomore at a university wrote it. I mean, I found the idea behind the post interesting: of course you can analyze trends in ridership to draw interesting conclusions. At the end of the day, however, it's a horrible idea to say "Hey, we know which of…

Agreed, it's all about the vibe. The writer feels like that uncle that conspicuously left openings for you to talk about your 18 year old love life in every conversation. And who was just a bit too enthusiastic the time you dated a cheerleader for a few months.

Re: Rides of Glory – Uber Blog (2012)

#42

Post by simonster »

striking wrote: post #12

To me, it's not even the use of data per se that is most creepy about this post. Really, the tone of the essay seems to revel in "having 'fun' with user data," as if a sophomore at a university wrote it. I mean, I found the idea behind the post interesting: of course you can analyze trends in ridership to draw interesting conclusions. At the end of the day, however, it's a horrible idea to say "Hey, we know which of…

The author is Bradley Voytek (http://darb.ketyov.com), who is now a professor of neuroscience and should probably know better.

Re: Rides of Glory – Uber Blog (2012)

#43

Post by striking »

mmcclure wrote: post #26

I gotta say, I'm not really seeing the creepy / cringey / evil / whatever-else here... Anyone (especially the HN crowd) should know they have the data, and if you think they're not carefully analyzing it behind the scenes (like every other tech company who has your data), I've got things to sell you. I personally think a tiny peek like this into the data, much like the usage posts that OKCupid, YouPorn, and others gi…

The problem here (for me personally, at least) is that Uber is not in the business of selling dates/"encounters" and that people don't expect a ridesharing company to go right for the sexual data. Even OKCupid is straddling the line here with http://blog.okcupid.com/index.php/we-experiment-on-human-bei... noting that:

  To test this, we took pairs of bad matches (actual 30% match) and told them they were exceptionally good for each other (displaying a 90% match.)
That's really not something people like having done to them. And the "HN crowd" shouldn't have an expectation of privacy and decency in data? Of course they're analyzing data, but it's really the viewpoint from which they do it that is unsettling. OKCupid says "no, duh, we're unethical. Deal with it." Uber says "Check it out! We drew a line between social security checks and prostitution!" (as waterlesscloud notes at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8644138 )

There are a million more beneficial ways that people could be using the data. Fighting hunger, poverty, illiteracy, etc., to me, is a "good" use of Big Data. Looking at sexual habits (when you're not selling sex) or openly manipulating people to get data is, to me, a "bad" use.

Re: Rides of Glory – Uber Blog (2012)

#44

Post by jasonm23 »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #31
mmcclure wrote: post #26

I gotta say, I'm not really seeing the creepy / cringey / evil / whatever-else here... Anyone (especially the HN crowd) should know they have the data, and if you think they're not carefully analyzing it behind the scenes (like every other tech company who has your data), I've got things to sell you. I personally think a tiny peek like this into the data, much like the usage posts that OKCupid, YouPorn, and others gi…

Yeah, the blog post seems fine minus the last sentence. And if they'd simply removed the last sentence, I doubt anyone would have noticed. The Streisand effect is so well-known that I'm surprised anyone would delete a blog post nowadays. EDIT: I actually hadn't read the blog post in detail until now, which was more than a little dumb. I thought it was just an analysis of rides along with some neat heatmap images. I d…

So well known, much like the cycle of violence...

And yet.

Re: Rides of Glory – Uber Blog (2012)

#45

Post by jpeg_hero »

blog article was 2.5 yrs ago, they were pulling out all the stops to get traction.

now they have critical mass they can transition into "full boring corp speak"

HN don't throw stones, what boundaries are pushing to get traction right now?

Re: Rides of Glory – Uber Blog (2012)

#47

Post by physcab »

mmcclure wrote: post #26

I gotta say, I'm not really seeing the creepy / cringey / evil / whatever-else here... Anyone (especially the HN crowd) should know they have the data, and if you think they're not carefully analyzing it behind the scenes (like every other tech company who has your data), I've got things to sell you. I personally think a tiny peek like this into the data, much like the usage posts that OKCupid, YouPorn, and others gi…

There's a difference between this type of post and a post by OkCupid. OkCupid is a dating platform and their blog posts are net-positives for their users. What should I say in my first opening message? What do I wear in a picture to attract a mate?

By contrast, it's simply not professional and reeks of juvenile behavior for Uber to be writing a post like this. Just because you have data and have these thoughts, doesn't mean you have to do the analysis and show the world. It doesn't help their users, it's not even that interesting, and it's not relevant to their value proposition as a business.

Re: Rides of Glory – Uber Blog (2012)

#48

Post by bmm6o »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #4
sergiotapia wrote: post #2

I can see why they deleted it, it's extremely cringey.

I think their post (also now deleted) inferring a connection between welfare checks and spikes in prostitution might have been even more cringey. https://web.archive.org/web/20140827195709/http://blog.uber.... Note that both of these posts had been up for years and only disappeared in the last few days.

What's strange to me about that one is the results aren't drawn from Uber data at all. It's just crime statistics broken down by day.

Re: Rides of Glory – Uber Blog (2012)

#49

Post by teacup50 »

mmcclure wrote: post #26

I gotta say, I'm not really seeing the creepy / cringey / evil / whatever-else here... Anyone (especially the HN crowd) should know they have the data, and if you think they're not carefully analyzing it behind the scenes (like every other tech company who has your data), I've got things to sell you. I personally think a tiny peek like this into the data, much like the usage posts that OKCupid, YouPorn, and others gi…

> Anyone (especially the HN crowd) should know they have the data, and if you think they're not carefully analyzing it behind the scenes (like every other tech company who has your data), I've got things to sell you.

That's the creepy bit. Who owns that data? I want to live in a world where I own my data, and it can't be used for creepy purposes like this, or to extract additional value through arbitrage based on asymmetric information availability.

Re: Rides of Glory – Uber Blog (2012)

#50

Post by teacup50 »

jpeg_hero wrote: post #45

blog article was 2.5 yrs ago, they were pulling out all the stops to get traction. now they have critical mass they can transition into "full boring corp speak" HN don't throw stones, what boundaries are pushing to get traction right now?

> HN don't throw stones, what boundaries are pushing to get traction right now?

We're not pushing ethical boundaries.

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