Consumers are Less Likely to Keep Their Opinions to Themselves
Everyday consumers of goods and services now have the Internet to describe their experiences with businesses and those businesses’ employees.
Government executives, administrators and all government employees, businesses, both non-profit and profit, legal and not legal, and every single one of their owners and employees, and all religious participants are ever increasingly more vulnerable to exposure, and accountability.
Consumers have become bolder that their payment means total accountability for what consumers paid for. Consumers are less likely to keep to their place, do as they’re told and keep their opinions to themselves.
Today’s governments, businesses or religions that dismiss or ignore consumers do so at their own risk. The Internet is free at public libraries, free at many businesses and free to anyone that wants to crawl on to it from a nearby wireless connection. Consumers of these goods and services more often than not relate bad experiences over good experiences. Exercising their freedom of speech rights where legal and illegal in other countries, they not only spell out and link the offending business’ name and location, but also the offending employees and/or owner’s names and locations. They spell out in great detail, and link with supporting documentation, their complaints.
I am glad to see “Gone are the days where settings from Auschwitz to Abu Ghraib contaminated in isolation both superiors and subordinates.” I am glad “the Internet is real-time exposure forcing attention, and repercussions.” I am glad “The result has been an increase in holding others accountable, just saying no and exposes.”Governments, schools, teachers, businesses, attorneys, judges, Realtors, home loan lenders, doctors, mechanics, hospitals, religions, etc. should be “relentlessly interviewed, closely monitored, increasingly resisted, and constantly scrutinized.”
“Online exposes and nastiness” happen for a reason.
Reasons like bad customer service or injustice. “As the realization sinks in that the Internet is also a real time conduit of ones’ reputation,” customer service will be deliberately forced to get only better.I have come to the recent conclusion that the Internet has made the Better Business Bureau a dinosaur. The BBB does not publish what the complaint is, and without that, the complaint is useless. Complaints made to the BBB about businesses not providing goods and services as advertised or legally required, bar associations about lawyers lying and taking client’s money but not doing what they were paid to do, Realtor associations about Realtors clearly violating written ethics rules, ethics committees, commissions, etc. should not be private. Instead, all should be public.
That’s another reason why there is an increase on the Internet of complaints and exposes. Too often, ranks have closed in around an offending member and protected them rather than hold them accountable. Or worse, the accused makes threats against the complaintant and witnesses, or bribes are offered by the accused and accepted by the investigator(s), prosecutors and/or judges.
The Internet is the medium to not only expose the offending member, but also these cover ups by those paid to investigate, judge and punish offenders.Public records are public to protect the public. That’s why our publicly elected officials voting records are public. That’s why publicly elected officials can only have public meetings “putting their opinions and conclusions easily available to everyone.” That’s why all complaints, investigations and outcomes should be public.
As MadMax wrote, “Remember, we have a legal system, not a justice system.”
HOWEVER, "Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it."
John Adams, (2nd President of the United States of America), 1776 (Thoughts on Government)
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