Social networking played a major role for both bad, good – and the ultimately ugly – as yesterday’s siege of the Lindt cafe slowly played out.
There is nothing like being screwed in a time of crisis and Uber yesterday showed their true colours when the big US company clearly revealed what they think of Australians when they announced it would put up its price in Sydney by at least 2.6 times during the siege, due to the number of people wanting to get out of town.
It put a minimum $65 fare on all journeys. Some riders reported being charged a minimum of $100.
Later in the day as Internet protests mounted, Uber Australia relented and said trips beginning in the Sydney CBD would be free.
On the Social Media front thousands of Facebook and Twitter devotees who hastened to pour anti-Muslim hatred onto their ranting version of the network.
The good came from the spread of the “I’ll Ride With You” hashtag, which saw some 22,000 Australians and millions of overseas observers take a stand against anti-Muslim sentiment, offering to sit protectively beside threatened Muslim-clad passengers on public transport.
