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David Streitfeld reports at the New York Times that people routinely use the Internet to review services from plumbers to hairdressers but now the tables are turned as companies like Uber are rating their customers, and shunning those who do not make the grade.
"An Uber trip should be a good experience for drivers too," says an Uber blog post. "Drivers shouldn’t have to deal with aggressive, violent, or disrespectful riders. If a rider exhibits disrespectful, threatening, or unsafe behavior, they, too, may no longer be able to use the service." It does not seem to take much to annoy some Uber drivers. On one online forum, an anonymous driver said he gave poor reviews to “people who are generally negative and would tend to bring down my mood (or anyone around them).” Another was cavalier about the process: “1 star for passengers does not do them any harm. Sensible drivers won’t pick them up, but so what?”
In response, some consumers are becoming more polite and prompt. "The knowledge that they may be rated is also encouraging people to submit more upbeat reviews themselves, even if the experience was less than stellar," writes Streitfeld. "When services choose whom to serve, no one wants to be labeled difficult." The result may be a Barney world says Michael Fertik referring to the purple dinosaur who sings, “With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you/ Won’t you say you love me too.”
(Score: 3, Insightful) by naubol on Wednesday February 04 2015, @12:54PM
The result may be a Barney world...
I quite like the fact that the assumption on the part of the driver is that I will be polite. It makes it a lot easier to gently suggest they're taking an inefficient route or going the wrong way altogether without it becoming a personal criticism. Moreover, the experience is just more pleasant period.
In a small town, everyone is rated constantly by everyone else and those ratings are remembered. It is a much more thorough and conscientious rating system, about as invasive at it can be. When people talk about how nice small towns are, I doubt they'd be flippant and call it a barney world. Technology isn't just flattening the world, but also shrinking the city.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by ilPapa on Wednesday February 04 2015, @03:08PM
That's the system that kept gays in the closet and unmarried girls having to go "stay with an aunt out of town" to take care of unwanted pregnancies.
It's the reason generations of bright young men and women escaped to the big city to seek their fortune. Because an environment where you're always being "rated" can get a little oppressive.
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bob_super on Wednesday February 04 2015, @04:43PM
It also kept kids safe when they played outside alone, reminded teenagers that jumping in the bed too early could be trouble, kept overweight people from getting morbidly obese, discouraged many guys (not enough) from beating up their family, kept the boss a hair below full abuseness, and reminded couples that one bad argument isn't always grounds for divorce...
It was such a great social stabilizer that your XXIst century government wants to make sure you know someone IS always looking and judging your actions.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 04 2015, @05:23PM
It also kept kids safe when they played outside alone, reminded teenagers that jumping in the bed too early could be trouble, kept overweight people from getting morbidly obese, discouraged many guys (not enough) from beating up their family, kept the boss a hair below full abuseness, and reminded couples that one bad argument isn't always grounds for divorce...
The fact that 100% of your examples have no basis in reality is revealing.
Just so no one thinks I'm just inveighing without cause, here's one example:
In 2010, the birth rate for girls ages 15 to 19 in rural counties was 43 per 1,000, nearly one-third higher than the rate for metropolitan counties (33 per 1,000)
-- Rural teens at high risk for pregnancy, analysis finds [usatoday.com]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday February 04 2015, @06:18PM
It seems that you might have missed the past tense used in both previous posts...
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 04 2015, @06:59PM
Are you saying that small towns are no longer places where "everyone is constantly rated by everyone else?"
Because if that is your thesis, you didn't make any effort at all to even mention it. Instead what you wrote sure looks like a straightforward defense of that very principle. If you would like to clarify your remarks, please do so.
(Score: 1) by In hydraulis on Wednesday February 04 2015, @11:34PM
He could also be arguing that everyone is still being constantly watched and rated by everyone else, but it no longer has the exemplified positive effects.
Not that this alternative is any better, though.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ilPapa on Wednesday February 04 2015, @10:41PM
Is that your way of saying, "Think of the children"? Because honestly, I don't know where you were in small town America, but children weren't that safe, teenagers were getting pregnant left and right, overweight people died before they could become morbidly obese and guys beat up their families all the time. Bosses were plenty abusive in the days before labor unions (see, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and and couples just stayed miserable instead of getting divorced. And all that good stuff was assuming you weren't a person of color, gay, Jewish, "ethnic" or any other marginalized group, because then old Ozzie and Harriet's small town America really set out to make your life a living hell. Which might be one reason why most Americans now live in cities.
Your idyllic vision of small town America circa Ozzie and Harriet is sadly untrue on every single count. It's as much a product of "big brother" (in the form of Madison Avenue) as anything coming from "your XXIst century government".
(Note: if you want to see just how abusive bosses could be back in the good old small town days, have a look: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-union_violence) [wikipedia.org]
You are still welcome on my lawn.
(Score: 2) by jdccdevel on Wednesday February 04 2015, @04:35PM
One of the worst things about small towns is a single "bad rating" can also mess things up for someone for a very, very long time, and be really hard to overcome. This helps make small towns the playground of bullies and gossips much more so than big cities, where some level of anonymity can be had.
One of the nicest things about small towns is that they're small. You can find another one if you really want to (or need to escape the bullying), or go to the "big city" and discover yourself.
If cities become like small towns, that sort of escape and self discovery is going to become that much harder.
This is especially true as rating apps like this become more common, since the rating will be available to anyone with a internet connection; regardless of where they're at. We're already starting to see the beginning of this with social media, where online rumors, bullying, and gossip are proving impossible to escape.
(Score: 2) by tathra on Wednesday February 04 2015, @06:24PM
it doesn't even need to be an actual 'rating', just a vindictive asshole with more charisma than you. if the lies they spread prevent people from getting close, you never get the chance to demonstrate the truth.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday February 04 2015, @08:52PM
One of the nicest things about small towns is that they're small. You can find another one if you really want to (or need to escape the bullying), or go to the "big city" and discover yourself.
If cities become like small towns, that sort of escape and self discovery is going to become that much harder.
Look if you've exhausted all the small towns, and are close to eliminating all the available cities, and people STILL gossip and bully you, maybe it really IS just YOU.
I suppose I still have to allow for the fact that you might be just an unfortunate Joe Btfsplk sort of person.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.