Uber has always been a popular topic for media outlets to talk about… but this week has been weird as sh*t. Over 253 articles were published on just one general Uber topic in the space of a day. 253. That does not include the other Uber subjects and articles that have been posted this week. Frankly that seems absurd…
And Motherboard is talking about Uber with such a new ferocity it has weirded me out.
So just from Motherboard these last few days… We have 20+ articles…
Uber Wants Us to Think It’s Environmentally Friendly, But Is It?
The theory is quite simple: Uber, along with other ride-hailing startups, will decrease carbon emissions in cities where it operates by lessening people’s reliance on personal automobiles. But does it stack up?
Uber’s Conscientious Objectors
Meet the people who, for one reason or another, refuse to use the taxi app.
Uber’s Next Stop: America’s Military Bases
Veterans tell Motherboard that UberMilitary, the company’s outreach program, addresses problems in their lives that the average American may not be aware of.
Uber Has a Big Ol’ Dog Problem
Uber has yet to figure out how to better accommodate riders with service dogs.
Why Toyota’s Investment In Uber Is Such a Big Deal
Toyota and Uber are teaming up, and it could have big implications for the future of ridesharing.
This Guy Quit His Engineer Job to Run a Blog All About Uber
Harry Campbell is The Rideshare Guy.
Uber’s China Problem
The ride-hailing service must contend with Chinese government crackdowns and disgruntled cabbies. Can it win on both fronts?
Why Uber Is Killing the Bank (And What That Means for Everything Else)
The Uberization of the world is not about creating a ubiquitous app in a specific sector, but redesigning the world around us for optimal technology-based interactions that don’t require humans.
Uber Was Originally a Tiny Monthly Magazine in Niagara, Canada
The ridesharing company wasn’t the first startup to use the name “Uber.”
Uber Rape Case Leaves No Safe Transit Option for Women in Mexico City
“Now I will only take Uber as a last ditch option.”
Why Everyone Hates UberPOOL
Shared ridesharing is bad, in part, because people are unreliable and unpredictable.
What’s Driving Uber?
This week, Motherboard takes a look at the taxi app that became a phenomenon.
When Uber Left Austin
“We wanted them to comply with something and, Uber and Lyft basically said ‘no,’ and, like a toddler, stomped off.”
What It Takes to Lure Uber to Your Small Town
It helps to have a college.
Uber Monitors When Drivers Move Their Phones, But the Results May Be Faulty
Uber wants to encourage safe driving practices, but drivers are annoyed and say the system doesn’t work well.
Uber’s Drive-By Politics
The fights that Uber and Lyft wage in cities like Austin look like local politics, but their actions often put corporate interests above local ones.
Newbie Drivers Meet Embittered Veterans on the UberPeople Forum
Workers unite online to dish advice, share horror stories, and bitch about their job.
Will Uber Crush These ‘Ethical’ Alternatives?
Uber alternatives promise benefits and pensions to drivers.
This Lot in Brooklyn Shows More Clearly What Uber Did to NYC than Any Statistic
Why the streets of Greenpoint are now full of parked yellow cabs.
Uber Knows Too Much About You
The kind of data that Uber has access to—even if it’s not, say, the actual contents of your email or the actual conversations you’re having on your phone—is extremely invasive.
And you know, Motherboard often rails against content farms… and yet they’ve published over 20 articles on Uber in the space of a few days.
I even witnessed five articles discussing Uber all published back to back. Their entire home page was just Uber. If that’s not as annoying as a content farm or as suspicious as Fox News than I’m a horses ass.
I honestly don’t know why Motherboard thinks their obsessive coverage of Uber is a good idea. Perhaps they saw a blogger making niche Uber content and decided to out compete him in that niche by having their writers constantly write on Uber. Maybe Uber gave them a bunch of money. I do not know. But I’d like to know.
(this weeks data, which should let us see the uptick I'm talking about, is only partial)
I don’t know what’s happening and this article isn’t meant to tell you. But this is an interesting development and I am definitely going to be looking further into this as time goes on to see if there’s some weird media revival concerning Uber going on, or if Motherboard is trying to push out content for ad $$$, or something else is happening.
Sometimes popular media changes with the wind and it’s interesting to document…