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I had a driver once mention a promotion uber was running for their drivers if you hit "X rides' in a certain time period you'd receive a $Y cash bonus - the catch was the system made it extremely difficult but not impossible to achieve the goal through subtle gamification techniques.

Big picture tech/gamification has reached a point where oversight/legislation of some sort is long overdue. No restrictions + profit motive with our current understanding of human psychology and dopamine triggers is a recipe for a bad time.




Yep I have heard about several similar promotions in the LA area from drivers.

A lot of drivers tell me often that as they close to hitting their number they get rides that are far away from where they are.

They then have to drive across town to pick the rider up and then drop the rider off at their destination ( which can be 15min to hours away).

The net effect is drivers rush during these promitions for quotas they usually don't hit.

Would not be surprised if Uber's algorithm started placing rides for drivers far away to avoid paying out promotions.


This sounds like the basis for a class action lawsuit that eventually settles for a $15 gas card for the affected drivers and $2m in fees for the plaintiffs' lawyers.




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