{"id":3583,"date":"2017-02-17T02:58:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-17T02:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/trump-supporters-boycott-meetup-after-company-creates-resist-groups-makes-its-politics-known.html"},"modified":"2017-02-17T02:58:45","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T02:58:45","slug":"trump-supporters-boycott-meetup-after-company-creates-resist-groups-makes-its-politics-known","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/trump-supporters-boycott-meetup-after-company-creates-resist-groups-makes-its-politics-known.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump supporters boycott Meetup after company creates #Resist groups, makes its politics known"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

Meetup<\/a>, the site that helps people organize get-togethers\u00a0like hiking trips and cooking classes, is taking a very solid political stance in the face of the new administration\u2019s policies here in the U.S. \u2014 a move that has angered Trump supporters, who are deleting their accounts<\/a> and calling for a boycott<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Meetup\u2019s platform is open to anyone on\u00a0both sides of the political spectrum, the previously apolitical company has taken upon itself to seed the site with 1,000 #Resist meetup groups, and has\u00a0emailed its 30 million members\u00a0to alert them of\u00a0that\u00a0fact.<\/p>\n

In the email, the company says that the site will always welcome people with different beliefs, but\u00a0after Trump\u2019s\u00a0executive order aimed at blocking people \u201con the basis\u00a0of nationality and religion,\u201d it reads, Meetup says it\u00a0felt a duty to spark more civic participation.<\/p>\n

The message\u00a0states there are now\u00a01,000 #Resist groups on the site, which are meant to serve as local hubs for those who want to take action on behalf of \u201cdemocracy, equality, human rights, social justice, and sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition, the\u00a0email\u00a0included a link users could click to find a #Resist meetup locally.<\/p>\n

\"meetup-resist-email\"<\/p>\n

The company, like many others today, had been struggling as to how it wanted to approach the situation in the U.S. with regard to the Trump administration and its controversial policies. Trump\u2019s actions have led to protests and the organization of a \u201cResistance\u201d movement, which is now more actively engaging in politics at federal, state and even local levels.<\/p>\n

Much of this resistance\u00a0activity has been taking place on Facebook through Groups and Events. The Women\u2019s March on Washington, for example, grew out of a Facebook post <\/a>that turned into a\u00a0grassroots-organized event.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Meetup decided it was time to take sides on the matter.<\/p>\n

It stopped normal operations for two days to host a company-wide hackathon, whose goal to \u201cunleash as much resistance on the Meetup platform as possible,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

As a result, Meetup\u00a0launched these #Resist groups and rolled out product changes designed to make it easier for anyone to schedule meetups.<\/p>\n

The groups were also launched in partnership with\u00a0the Women\u2019s March, Planned Parenthood, the Anti-Defamation League, Amnesty International and Human Rights Campaign. These organizations\u00a0are helping supply templates for the Meetup events and making suggestions as to what people can actually do when they come together.<\/p>\n

\"screen-shot-2017-02-16-at-12-15-28-pm\"<\/p>\n

Ahead of the company\u2019s email, 11,500 members signed up for the groups during\u00a0that first weekend. By the time the email was sent, 50,000 members had joined. And today, the groups have grown to include more than 90,800 members.<\/p>\n

There are now 500 more groups in the process of getting set up, in addition to the original 1,000, and 15,240 Meetup members have RSVP\u2019d to 2,453 scheduled events.<\/p>\n

As expected, Meetup\u2019s move has enraged those on the opposite side of the political spectrum.<\/p>\n

Many\u00a0are calling for a boycott, deleting accounts or saying they\u2019re\u00a0angry at\u00a0Meetup for stirring political unrest.<\/p>\n

Above: An angry tweet. It\u2019s not clear if the user is intentionally using imagery\u00a0from a movie about\u00a0a family fleeing the Nazis, or if the irony was lost on them.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Meetup isn\u2019t the only tech company to be impacted by U.S. politics, or face a boycott because of their positions.<\/p>\n

On the flip side, those protesting Trump\u2019s immigration and refugee ban led a campaign to boycott Uber,<\/a> when they believed it to have taken advantage of a taxi strike against the ban to promote its\u00a0own car-hailing service. (Users were also concerned about Uber CEO\u00a0Travis Kalanick\u2019s politics, given his position as an economic advisor<\/a> to President Trump.)<\/p>\n

A cynic could argue that Meetup saw the opportunity to bring the growing number of Resistance members to its own site, boosting its user base numbers and therefore its revenue. But making a decision like this is a risk for a company like Meetup, which is dependent on paid subscriptions. It went into this knowing it would lose Trump supporters as members, and anger others.<\/p>\n

CEO Scott Heiferman explains why Meetup went this route.\u00a0\u201cWe felt an obligation to our country and to humanity to stand up for core values of democracy. We heard people after the Women\u2019s March. We heard people wanting to do something,\u201d Heiferman told TechCrunch. \u201cWe knew our platform could help people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also noted that Meetup took a cue from organic activity already on the site, where meetups like this were mobilizing quickly.<\/p>\n

Heiferman also expected\u00a0there would be a backlash, but moved forward anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel more compelled to stand up for rights of those who might suffer. We knew our platform could empower people to take actions locally \u2014 because it was already happening,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we chose not to stay quiet out of fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/aqb0uFWp8JI\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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