4 ms·

$1M just got them the best PR campaign they could have hoped for.

by ajamesm 10y ago

jonlucc 10y ago
Exactly; I've just installed the app now. I don't use Uber a ton, so it won't be a big hit, but I will certainly try Lyft first.
- ajamesm 10y ago
  There are ridesharing apps that integrate with local taxi fleets, too! I heard of Curb and Flywheel, which I'm going to try out soon.
rapsey 10y ago
By pissing off half the country?
- ajamesm 10y ago
  By choosing the right half to piss off.
- nilkn 10y ago
  Keep in mind that the American election system is such that only 20% of Americans (or 30% of eligible voters) voted for Trump in order to get him into office. So it really does not follow that a move against Trump would anger half the country. Trump famously lost the popular vote as well, and he has one of the lowest approval ratings on entering office of any President in modern history. Finally, who's more likely to use Lyft? Trump's support base is shockingly hard to truly pin down, but certainly a lot of his base resides in rural areas, not cities -- areas where Lyft (and Uber) may not even operate or, if they do, the volume of rides is far, far lower. My impression, in fact, is that there's almost an inverse correlation between number of heavy Uber/Lyft users and Trump support in the area -- it'd be interesting to see someone actually try to verify/debunk that impression with real data.
  - pfarnsworth 10y ago
    Using your math/logic, what percentage of Americans voted for Obama?
    - CamelCaseName 10y ago
      Good point. 30.79% in 2008 [0] 28.05% in 2012 [1] [0] 0.582 x 0.529 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele... [1] 0.511 x 0.549 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2012 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele...
    - mschuster91 10y ago
      Per http://bipartisanpolicy.org/library/2012-voter-turnout/ http://bipartisanpolicy.org/library/2012-voter-turnout/ in 2008 there voted 62.3% of eligible voters in total; Obama won with 52.92% of this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Barack_Obama https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Barack_Ob...), that makes 32.96% of all eligible voters. In 2012, turnout was 57.5%, of which Obama won 51.06%. That makes 29.36% of all eligible voters. The problem is that it's really, really hard to get numbers on the question "how many people did not register themselves for voting rights, even if they could legally have done so?".
      - dragonwriter 10y ago
        You can usually get stats on turnout as both % of registered voters and % of voting age population. Neither of those is exactly % of legally-eligible population, but together they bracket it.
  - astronautjones 10y ago
    I can only comment anecdotally, but I went to like six bars in a conservative southern town last night (long bar hop, don't drink, so don't judge too harshly) - people were discussing this at every single one
- CaptSpify 10y ago
  I'm wondering if that half is part of their demographic? It seems to me that it wouldn't be.
- paulddraper 10y ago
  If they had said "Hillary Clinton is the best thing ever", that would have pissed off half the country. Trump wasn't popular; he was just popular enough, and it's for a variety of reasons, not just one.

$1M just got them the best PR campaign they could have hoped for.

by ajamesm 10y ago

$1M just got them the best PR campaign they could have hoped for.

Exactly; I've just installed the app now. I don't use Uber a ton, so it won't be a big hit, but I will certainly try Lyft first.

ajamesm 10y ago
There are ridesharing apps that integrate with local taxi fleets, too! I heard of Curb and Flywheel, which I'm going to try out soon.

rapsey 10y ago

By pissing off half the country?

ajamesm 10y ago
By choosing the right half to piss off.
nilkn 10y ago
Keep in mind that the American election system is such that only 20% of Americans (or 30% of eligible voters) voted for Trump in order to get him into office. So it really does not follow that a move against Trump would anger half the country. Trump famously lost the popular vote as well, and he has one of the lowest approval ratings on entering office of any President in modern history. Finally, who's more likely to use Lyft? Trump's support base is shockingly hard to truly pin down, but certainly a lot of his base resides in rural areas, not cities -- areas where Lyft (and Uber) may not even operate or, if they do, the volume of rides is far, far lower. My impression, in fact, is that there's almost an inverse correlation between number of heavy Uber/Lyft users and Trump support in the area -- it'd be interesting to see someone actually try to verify/debunk that impression with real data.
- pfarnsworth 10y ago
  Using your math/logic, what percentage of Americans voted for Obama?
  - CamelCaseName 10y ago
    Good point. 30.79% in 2008 [0] 28.05% in 2012 [1] [0] 0.582 x 0.529 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele... [1] 0.511 x 0.549 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2012 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele...
  - mschuster91 10y ago
    Per http://bipartisanpolicy.org/library/2012-voter-turnout/ http://bipartisanpolicy.org/library/2012-voter-turnout/ in 2008 there voted 62.3% of eligible voters in total; Obama won with 52.92% of this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Barack_Obama https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Barack_Ob...), that makes 32.96% of all eligible voters. In 2012, turnout was 57.5%, of which Obama won 51.06%. That makes 29.36% of all eligible voters. The problem is that it's really, really hard to get numbers on the question "how many people did not register themselves for voting rights, even if they could legally have done so?".
    - dragonwriter 10y ago
      You can usually get stats on turnout as both % of registered voters and % of voting age population. Neither of those is exactly % of legally-eligible population, but together they bracket it.
- astronautjones 10y ago
  I can only comment anecdotally, but I went to like six bars in a conservative southern town last night (long bar hop, don't drink, so don't judge too harshly) - people were discussing this at every single one
CaptSpify 10y ago
I'm wondering if that half is part of their demographic? It seems to me that it wouldn't be.
paulddraper 10y ago
If they had said "Hillary Clinton is the best thing ever", that would have pissed off half the country. Trump wasn't popular; he was just popular enough, and it's for a variety of reasons, not just one.