THE bigger, the better. For the most part, internet companies are judged by the number of users they have. Sign up enough people, the thinking goes, and revenues and profits will follow.
A large customer base can be useful in other ways, too. As internet companies have muscled in on existing business models, from taxi services to hotels, they have rubbed up against existing regulations. And so they have started lobbying to change them, just like their corporate brethren.
But conventional advocacy is not enough for such disruptive types. Not content to rely on well-placed lobbyists with the ears of politicians, they are recruiting users to promote their cause.
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Facebook did this when India鈥檚 telecoms regulator sought public consultation on services that offer limited access to internet sites via phones, a model catching on in the developing world (see 鈥�Next billion people online will get odd versions of the internet鈥�). One such service is Free Basics, owned by Facebook. Its reaction to the consultation was to invite millions of its users to send boilerplate emails of support, deluging the unamused regulator.
Others are also marshalling users to their cause. Uber, for example, last year defeated a proposed cap on the number of its vehicles in New York City. One of its tactics was to roll out a new mode on its app named 鈥淒e Blasio鈥� 鈥� after the city mayor championing the cap. The mode made all of Uber鈥檚 cars disappear from the map and directed users to a petition. And home-stay giant Airbnb is organising its US users into 鈥済uilds鈥� to fight proposed regulations on short-term rentals around the country.
Internet services have spent vast sums learning how to direct their users鈥� activity. That makes for a powerful political force 鈥� which can be exercised with little transparency. As The Times of India reported, many Facebook users claimed they were enlisted in its campaign unwittingly. It鈥檚 all very well for internet firms to throw their audiences鈥� weight around, but they should strive to capture nuance as well as numbers. After all, might doesn鈥檛 make right.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淐ustomer or lobbyist?鈥�
