Reply to I am a DC uberX driver since 2013 and have SEEN IT ALL...so please, AMA

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So glad to see this thread bumped. I just read this article the other day and was wondering what you (OP) thought about it.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/02/technology/uber-drivers-psychological-tricks.html?_r=0

Here's an excerpt:

"And yet even as Uber talks up its determination to treat drivers more humanely, it is engaged in an extraordinary behind-the-scenes experiment in behavioral science to manipulate them in the service of its corporate growth — an effort whose dimensions became evident in interviews with several dozen current and former Uber officials, drivers and social scientists, as well as a review of behavioral research.

Uber’s innovations reflect the changing ways companies are managing workers amid the rise of the freelance-based “gig economy.” Its drivers are officially independent business owners rather than traditional employees with set schedules. This allows Uber to minimize labor costs, but means it cannot compel drivers to show up at a specific place and time. And this lack of control can wreak havoc on a service whose goal is to seamlessly transport passengers whenever and wherever they want.

Uber helps solve this fundamental problem by using psychological inducements and other techniques unearthed by social science to influence when, where and how long drivers work. It’s a quest for a perfectly efficient system: a balance between rider demand and driver supply at the lowest cost to passengers and the company."[/quote]

So this article got a ton of chatter amongst drivers and on the message boards.  Driving uberX/lyft has ALWAYS been a game, not a real job.  You start at the bottom, learn the ropes along with the tricks of the trade, find out what works and what doesn't, and then either adapt using what you know to turn a profit or fail spectacularly and be forced into another gig besides ridesharing.   We're all "independent contractors", but some people in this world just aren't cut out to be their own boss and need to be led around (or "influenced" by uber as told in the above story).  Drivers who are able to think outside-the-box to make the system work for them (not the other way around) can be profitable at it.  Nowadays, whatever uber tells me to do, the first thing I think to do is usually the opposite.   Lastly, driver turnover is still crazy high (~50% quit every six months) because there's lots more to this than just simply driving a car, plus daily driving in DC isn't exactly a piece of cake.[/quote]

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