2 ms·

This is a really great insight. It certainly bolsters the argument that these are dead in jobs. As in, the professional social graph literally dead ends. On th

This is a really great insight. It certainly bolsters the argument that these are dead in jobs. As in, the professional social graph literally dead ends. On the other hand, I know a couple of people who started driving for Lyft recently to supplement income when their other freelance work slows. They've found pretty creative ways to make the most of the gig. One guy in particular is doing some social/influencer type stuff around it and has found some clients for his primary work as a content writer. Going in the other direction, my wife is a lawyer and is always chatting with drivers and giving them her business card. She helped a driver with some questionable traffic tickets. Nothing major, just a short phone call and some free advice that got the tickets throw out. When his brother got hit by someone running a red light, she got the case. There's always value generated when people connect. Sure, two Lyft drivers don't have a lot of reason to connect, but a Lyft driver has the opportunity to connect with people who do other things. Maybe there's some value in that that is just now being explored.

brudgers 9y ago
Sure, people can get creative. The difference is that gigsters have no alternative to being creative. But chatting up riders is part of Lyft driver's work because they must maintain high ratings. To put it another way, being a content writer or social influencer is entirely orthogonal to driving a car or delivering groceries or walking dogs on demand. A person can be a content writer or social influencer while having a regular job with benefits and coworkers and an expanding professional network...and most people would be better off career-wise in such circumstances. I mean in the story, it is the lawyer in the back seat making some rain. It isn't the driver getting hired at the law firm or even getting a lead on a better job. The driver just avoided some of the costs of doing business that they might otherwise have payed. Not that that's nothing, but it's not career enhancing.

brudgers 9y ago

Sure, people can get creative. The difference is that gigsters have no alternative to being creative. But chatting up riders is part of Lyft driver's work because they must maintain high ratings. To put it another way, being a content writer or social influencer is entirely orthogonal to driving a car or delivering groceries or walking dogs on demand. A person can be a content writer or social influencer while having a regular job with benefits and coworkers and an expanding professional network...and most people would be better off career-wise in such circumstances. I mean in the story, it is the lawyer in the back seat making some rain. It isn't the driver getting hired at the law firm or even getting a lead on a better job. The driver just avoided some of the costs of doing business that they might otherwise have payed. Not that that's nothing, but it's not career enhancing.