But many experts said that while the labels made
it appear that the companies were taking action,
”at the end of the day it proved to be pretty
ineffective,” as Jennifer Grygiel a professor at
Syracuse University and social media expert, put it.
— Quibi
Less than a year ago, Quibi launched a splashy
Super Bowl ad that posed the question
“What’s a Quibi?” People may still be scratching
their heads.
Quibi, short for “quick bites,” raised $1.75 billion
from investors including major Hollywood
players Disney, NBCUniversal and Viacom.
But the service struggled to reach viewers, as
short videos abound on the internet and the
coronavirus pandemic kept many people at
home. It announced it was shutting down in
October, just months after its April launch.
— Uber and Lyft
Fresh off of their initial public offerings the year
before and still struggling to show they can
be profitable, the ride-hailing services were
clobbered by the pandemic in 2020, as people
stopped taking cars and huddled down at home.
In May, Uber laid off 3,700 people, or about 14%
of its workforce. Lyft also announced job cuts.
But there are some signs of hope. After
significantly reducing costs by restructuring
in the second quarter, Lyft said last month it
expects to have its first profitable quarter at
the end of 2021. And the companies scored a
major victory in California, where voters passed
Proposition 22, granting them an others an
exception to a law that sought to classify their
drivers as employees, an expense that analysts