It's all about leverage. Clearly, the #deleteuber customers had it. This is also why the various boycott-Starbucks protests from the left and right always fail.
On a smaller scale, a similar social media backlash forced Rep. Chaffetz (R, UT) to withdraw his western public lands sale resolution (HR 621). This bill had bad implications for hunters and other outdoorsmen and the hunting media reacted strongly on social media, setting off a large outcry amongst public land-loving Republicans. In truth, both the right and the left opposed this bill but it was the outcry from his constituency that had the leverage and forced him to kill it.
This got me thinking last night: if this was 1982, politicians would do what they please and it would be months before the public found out about it. Now days, a congressman or president can make a bad decision and face immediate backlash from their constituency. For all of the problems that social media has created, this increased accountability of public servants is world-changing.
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It's all about leverage. Clearly, the #deleteuber customers had it. This is also why the various boycott-Starbucks protests from the left and right always fail.
On a smaller scale, a similar social media backlash forced Rep. Chaffetz (R, UT) to withdraw his western public lands sale resolution (HR 621). This bill had bad implications for hunters and other outdoorsmen and the hunting media reacted strongly on social media, setting off a large outcry amongst public land-loving Republicans. In truth, both the right and the left opposed this bill but it was the outcry from his constituency that had the leverage and forced him to kill it.
This got me thinking last night: if this was 1982, politicians would do what they please and it would be months before the public found out about it. Now days, a congressman or president can make a bad decision and face immediate backlash from their constituency. For all of the problems that social media has created, this increased accountability of public servants is world-changing.