Stefanie Schulte

#WeWashing: "when organizations refer to renting and selling services as 'sharing' and/or use terms like 'community' in misleading ways":

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/leesean-huang/wewashing-when-sharing-is_b_6879018.html

"At worst, [the #sharingeconomy label] is a way of obfuscating commercial transactions as 'sharing' as a way of evade the reach of regulation and oversight."

(via Frank Pasquale, https://twitter.com/FrankPasquale/status/944754728612913152)

#WeWashing: When "Sharing" Is Renting and "Community" Is a Commodity

WeWashing is a new term that refers to the abuse of words like "sharing" and "community." Use #WeWashing to identify and critique this abuse.

Dec 24, 2017 at 11:41amWeb
Show threadStuCDec 24, 2017

@stefanieschulte an astonishing number of companies seem to have "community management" positions.

They seem either to mean customer relations management or product management.

I can't help thinking, every time I hear "community management" that true communities should manage themselves.

Show threadJerry 🦙💝🦙Dec 24, 2017
@stefanieschulte the word “sharing” always seemed like an odd description for services like Uber and Airbnb.
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKDec 24, 2017

@jerry @stefanieschulte not sure of USA culture (assuming author is Asian American) but in UK (even big cities) it is normal for taxicab driver (especially older ones) to share some part of their life story with you, its not some magic development via Uber.

I have had to travel in many taxis recently due to hospital appointments, our town supports at *least* two taxi firms with apps that provide same features as Uber but no nasty surprises like surge pricing. Drivers appear well treated too.

Show threadStefanie SchulteDec 24, 2017
@vfrmedia @jerry It's a tricky business, due to low margins and risk of oversupply. This is a huge challenge for business owners and local regulators, I believe. However, Uber might not be particularly good at this - they just benefit from billions of dollars of subsidies from their investors, as Hubert Horan pointed out: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2933177
Will the Growth of Uber Increase Economic Welfare? by Hubert Horan :: SSRN

The urban car service firm Uber is currently the most highly valued private startup company in the world, with a venture capital valuation of over $68 billion b

Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKDec 24, 2017

@stefanieschulte @jerry #Ipswich #UK seems to be a pioneering town in use of GPS apps for taxi despatch, I noticed a sudden drop off in VHF radio traffic from taxis on my scanner as they all switched to these systems. Uber doesn't operate much in Ipswich (there was one mention of it in a Council meeting) and it doesn't do localisation *that* well either..

(even if my Google settings are in Dutch I am in UK (which the website should try and detect) or the map could centre on NL/BE)

Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKDec 24, 2017

@stefanieschulte @jerry one driver (on local firm) did think the control room were taking on "more jobs than they could handle" but delays caused by this were masked by traffic problems in town.

Certainly when I order the local taxis they are now there within 5 minutes of the expected time (even with heavy traffic); if SMS confirmations are delayed (app has realtime notifications) thats usually a network issue!

Inside the hospital are flyers for 3 other companies but not *one* mention of Uber

Show threadJerry 🦙💝🦙Dec 24, 2017
@vfrmedia @stefanieschulte I travelled all over the world during the past year. I found cabs to be generally cheaper, but Uber, I’ve found, is really convenient - to be able to open an app and get a ride, whether I’m in NYC, Dublin, or Budapest.
Show threadvarx (is elsewhere now)Dec 24, 2017
@jerry @vfrmedia @stefanieschulte Uber's actual advantage is the app, as far as I can tell. I've seen a few cabs recently (in Boston) with signs advertising an app; sounds like traditional cab companies are finally catching on.
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKDec 24, 2017

@varx @jerry @stefanieschulte

interesting as in this bit of the UK the taxicab apps appeared *long* before Uber was even known about, near enough a decade ago and the only thing that initially held them back was 3G/LTE mobile signal being non existent in the rural areas of Suffolk - this has recently got far better.

Its possible that being a small country with easy low cost access to accurate mapping data might be more of a factor here..

Show threadvarx (is elsewhere now)Dec 24, 2017
@vfrmedia @jerry Has Uber been able to get a foothold at all?
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKDec 24, 2017

@varx @jerry I'm not even sure they have (in spite of being well known in London and possibly neighbouring Essex).

There was *one* expression of concern by licensed taxi drivers about competion a year or so ago on the records of a Council meeting. They are not even banned here or anything; maybe their marketers have a limited/outdated idea of Suffolk and think that everyone owns cars (or tractors/pickup trucks) and its all rural and hardly anyone actually lives here or both..

Show threadJerry 🦙💝🦙Dec 24, 2017
@varx @vfrmedia @stefanieschulte I think you’re right. Cabs will need a universal app to compete well, because I don’t have to think about what city I’m in/what app to use with Uber.
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKDec 24, 2017

@jerry @varx @stefanieschulte

perhaps a cultural difference and/or *two* kinds of cabs? In UK (perhaps wider Europe) there are taxis you can hail in the street (usually more expensive) and others you have to make a telephone call to book; both co-exist in most towns/cities (some companies provide both services but they have separate licensing)

These second ones were quicker to adopt app based booking (having already invested in telecoms infrastructure, previously landlines and VHF radio)

Show threadEuphoria 💕Dec 24, 2017

@stefanieschulte

They will happily share what they have with us if we share some of our money with them.