event

#deleteuber

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Sources

Digital consumer activism: Agency and commodification in the digital ... ephemerajournal.org ephemera 12 facts

referenceThe study 'Digital consumer activism: Agency and commodification in the digital economy' analyzes digitally mediated agency and the transformation of consumption meanings by examining three case studies: #grabyourwallet, #deleteuber and #deletetwitter, and Connecting Good (CoGo).

perspectiveDecentralized digital activism campaigns, such as #deletefacebook and #deleteuber, are described as evanescent and 'storm-like,' lacking the ongoing relations between activists necessary to build a sustained campaign.

claimThe #deletefacebook and #deleteuber campaigns were reactive and decentralized, driven by events surrounding the companies and the ability of Twitter users to mobilize via hashtags rather than ongoing organized pressure.

accountThe study of digital consumer activism utilizes three case studies: the #grabyourwallet boycott campaign (arising in 2016), digital deletion campaigns including #deleteuber and #deletefacebook (active 2016-2018), and the 'Connecting Good' buycott organization (operating since 2015).

claimThe #deleteuber hashtag experienced a 'Twitter storm' pattern, characterized by a steep, sudden increase in tweet volume followed by a swift decline, as defined by Segerberg and Bennett (2011).

procedureThe research methodology for the online deletion campaigns (#deleteuber and #deletefacebook) involves digital empirical analysis of Twitter, utilizing 'postdemographic' methods as described by Rogers (2013).

measurementThe #deleteuber hashtag usage reached 61 tweets on the day of the taxi protest, peaked at 490 tweets the following day, dropped to 157 tweets the day after, and returned to a few tweets per day by the second week of February 2017.

measurementA leak from Uber staff reported that 200,000 accounts were deleted following the peak periods of the #deleteuber campaign (Stat, 2017).

claimThe #deleteuber hashtag appeared on Twitter following Uber's suspension of surge pricing during a taxi strike, as documented by Cresci (2017) and Isaac (2017).

accountRetrospective tweet collection for the #deleteuber and #deletefacebook analysis faced significant limitations, including inconsistent data availability (initial collection found tweets back to 2011, while a repeat collection two months later only found tweets back to February 2017) and the messy nature of the data, which made tweet dates the only reliable baseline.

measurementThe dataset for the analysis of #deleteuber and #deletefacebook was collected from Twitter in February 2018.

claimThe #deleteuber and #deletefacebook hashtag campaigns represent a form of boycott based on refusing the specific ways digital and internet technologies mediate social relations.