I took a look at new startup DoTheRightThing this evening. This is a Digg-like site where people submit stories about companies acting in ways that can be considered “good” or “bad.” Other users then vote on the goodness or badness of those actions, add comments, etc. An overall “goodness” score, ranging from “severe” on the negative end to “pioneer” on the positive end is calculated and displayed.
The company hopes that companies will take notice, realize that non-financial results matter to society, and change bad behaviors. Since they are somewhat hypocritically a for-profit startup, they hope to make a buck or two along the way as well.
As you would expect, the site is filled with typical rants against Walmart and other easy to target companies. One Scottish company is being attacked because they ship scampi to Thailand to be hand peeled prior to being shipped back to the UK for consumption. “This is revolting” says one user. On the other end of the spectrum, anyone wearing and selling red stuff is celebrated because they, and apparently they alone, care about people with AIDS.
One misguided user posted a not so popular rant suggesting that corporations should not be held accountable for all of the worlds ills. This posting has a very low rating right now.
I’m guessing people like that will be quickly beaten out of dotherightthing.com, leaving a smug nest of Toyota Pious driving do-gooders behind to fix all of our problems by complaining about them in unison.
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Anybody else think this is like the uptight version of F&^*ed Companies.
I like the site design and UI but I just don’t think many people care about business, or even doing the right thing relating to business…
I think it would be better if they made it general to include politcs, law, and etc., and offer the problem and what needs to be done as a solution…
For example a story, I saw on Digg about a 17 year old in Alabama who got 10 years for having sex with a girl who was 15.
Offer a problem and a solution that can only be solved by a group of people, fundraising, opinion/petition, etc.
Otherwise if there is no solution offered there is absolutely no point to get involved….
Anyways good luck to them,
Levon
I like it
great interface and good idea. Why not monetize it? If they put hard work into it and spent money creating it.. surely it couldn’t be considered a negative point if they want to make that back. Best of luck to them.
This sucks! A web 2.0 community that represents communism. I guess we can expect more such “ideas” mushrooming in the next few months. not good. not good for good evolutionary economies. nope
Its problematic to divide things to good and bad (although president Bush does it all the time). Most things in life are somewhere in the middle.
Stories on this site could be too righteous and tiring, but I’m sure that some worthy stories will get attention through the site.
For me, the scampi story sounds quite foolish, but Walmart definitely deserves a public beating for breaking competitors and unions.
“This sucks! A web 2.0 community that represents communism”
Eloquent - but this is nothing to do with communism and all about creating more tangible accountability.
Yes it is naive to blame corporations for life’s ills, but it is also wrong to assume that voting is a citizen’s only route of expression. Even the most hardened right winger would admit that there is more to white house politics than votes, and that the ability to get on the good side of elected representatives is a factor in the success of many large corporations.
The other factor involved here is global accountability - I cannot vote in another country but I may well be affected by the actions of its corporations, for instance through pollution. If the actions of a corporation have effects outside its legislative region why can’t citizens who fall victim to those effects have a route of complaint?
Of course, some of the comments on the site are trite and just a big ole moan - but let’s not act as if this is different from the swathes of user generated content on myspace, youtube, digg, bebo, (shall I go on?).
I think it is a good idea and if it is given some time to flourish it could work. There will be kinks in the road but lets give it a chance.
And shipping scampi across the world to be peeled and sent back across the world… that is a problem. When I need a couple tons of scampi I’ll make sure to choose a company who has a bit of common sense about it.
I’m the poster of the apparently misguided post cited in the above. Seems TechCruch author Michael Arrington is misguided - the post’s rating refers to the company mentioned - Dotherightthing.com, not the submitted article. Have another look at how the site works. As for the rebuttals below my post, they’re by the site’s founders I presume.
leaving a smug nest of do-gooders behind to fix all of our problems by complaining about them in unison
typical right-wing rant.
this blog’s author attacks companies all the time for all sorts of stuff, but gosh forbid somebody else do it, then it’s a just ‘a smug nest of do-gooders‘ trying to ‘fix all of our problems by complaining about them in unison‘.
They criticized Walmart? Bunch of dirty hippies.
Pathetic.
Michael, you need more caffeine: I just read pedrito’s comment. He said holding corporations accountable through public campaigns could result in “CSR that purports to benefit the wider community”, but “Doing the right thing isn’t that simple”, so if you believe in something, you should vote for it.
If he didn’t throw in that “Governments apply laws fairly and universally” and “[Corporations] paid for schools, hospitals and pensions, and employed people”, I might actually take him seriously. The reality is a bit more… nuanced.
This site is obviously hitting some raw nerves. That people are posting is a sign that they could be successful. From there, it’s not much different than a site like CAPS, or any number of user-gen sites you’ve written about too. Extreme views get averaged out.
Seeing as some people have argued that ethical funds have tended to outperform normal mutual funds, I wonder how much data mining can be done here on a per-stock basis. Are there some users whose ethical judgements of a company are good predictors of future stock performance?
This is a great idea.
Consumers should be more empowered in this way. As far I see ‘Web 2.0′ represents entrepreneurs/people with foresight and vision on how people will want to use the Internet in the future.
I think your wrong, if it’s not Dotherightthing.com there will be other sites with large communities that will have strong political influence on a global scale.
sorry mike, have to disagree with you on the “somewhat hypocritically” comment. just because they want to build a sustainable business does not mean they are hypocrites for applauding ethical moves.
So it’s a dumb idea to try and bring out the positive that companies do outside making profits? And where does the smug part come in? Do the words pessimistic or closed-minded mean anything here?
The point Michael was making, quite clearly I thought, was that he predicts this will devolve into an echo-chamber and all you will have left are the self-righteous patting themselves on the back for being so superior. Open debate will be quashed. The premise, heck even the name, of the site ensures that.
BTW, as far as I am concerned, it is their shrimp, they can do whatever they want with it. People in Thailand deserve to work too, don’t they? Why not yell at Intel for making seminconductor wafers in Arizona, flying them to China for packaging, and then flying them back to Texas for building PCs.
I concur, the post is so negative, self serving and smug. Might I remind you that ‘do gooders’ managed to play a significant role in changing the political landscape in the United States.
“it is their shrimp, they can do whatever they want with it. People in Thailand deserve to work too, don’t they?”
Yes and my kids deserve to live in a world that hasn’t been pre-heated to 300 degrees fahrenheit by global warming caused by pointless, wasteful shipping.
Mr. Politics meet Mr. Tech. I’m sure you two will get along fine …
I’ll chime in and also disagree with Mike and agree with the posters pointing out that things come in shades rather than black and white. Mike, using the word ’smug’ … hmm. Is dotherightthing.com perfect? No, but can it be a helpful tool to attach a price to blatantly shameful acts which before only had a monetary decision factor? I think (and hope) so.
“And shipping scampi across the world to be peeled and sent back across the world… that is a problem. ”
Yeah Paul, you are right it IS a problem -
The problem is that it’s cheaper to jump through all those hoops just to save money. The workforce in America would demand to become a “Scampi Peeler Union #34″ or something and expect $23.00/hour to sit on their ass peeling scampi all day.
And Robert…Global Warming?
Explain to me why were the record high temperatures recorded back in 1947 or so?
Mike, don’t trivialize the power of a lot of people ‘complaining’ in unison to bring about change. If all they can legally do in a world dominated by the “bad guys,” is complain, why not? In any case, there is at least one high-profile issue where this is obviously working–”climate change.”
Amen, lawrence.
I’ll visit the site when I have a rant - how many people see a story that really pisses them off?
One such rant was towards Disney when they threatened to sue over putting Winnie the Pooh on a child’s gravestone. I gave that a -5 rating, but it’s been moving up towards the “green”.
The support here is tremendous, thank you. dotherightthing may be a small player in a big, scary world but the potential for significant positive social impact has already been demonstrated by this thread, activities on the site to date and others. Empowering consumers, customers and employees is not a new concept and it has been shown to bring about real change. Without a doubt, knowledge empowers.
The for-profit piece is all about setting an example that you can build a business and intrinsically do the right thing. It wouldn’t make sense any other way.
This is a bootstrapped venture by a couple motivated social entrepreneurs with audacious aspirations of creating an open platform that connects people and companies. (not “dirty hippies” or activists)
All feedback and support in making it effective are welcome.
Rod
co-founder @ dotherightthing
I for one like the idea. Good job guys.
Is this a review or an editorial? It seems that Arrington is just using the site as an opportunity to share his immature worldview.
“As you would expect, the site is filled with typical rants . . .”
“One misguided user posted a not so popular rant suggesting that corporations should not be held accountable for all of the worlds ills.”
Aren’t these comments a tad hypocritical, considering the nature of this site? Isn’t the DeadPool filled with “typical rants” justified by the excuse that start-ups _should_ be “held accountable”?
You can’t have it both ways. TechCrunch and its DeadPool pander to the same crowd with its lowest common denominator, mob mentality.
This site is all about selling ads and making money. That’s why it’s here and why you’re here. It’s just a bunch of hot air and armchair quarterbacking from–what?–an ex-lawyer who wants to be read and respected instead of practicing law?
And no, I’m not part of any start-up, so you’ll have to save that tired, old criticism for someone else. Only someone with poor reasoning abilities would make the incorrect assumption that every dissenting opinion expressed here comes from a disgruntled start-up owner.
I have been reading this site for a few years now I think. This will be the last time. What a horrible excuse for a post. Next time, read and do a little research before you post. I don’t think I have ever read anything so hypocritical in my entire life. Your website is all about introducing new websites and bashing companies for all sorts of things. I remember a post a few weeks back about some of Google’s conduct. Wow, just wow.
Look I am all for more transparency when it comes to corporate actions. They should all be held accountable in a public fashion for things against the public good. What some believe is actually good for the public is disputed (eg. fair trade, wal mart).
HOWEVER, the creation of laws around such fervor is dangerous. Folks need to realize the market will take care of itself. This site will help the market come to the proper conclusion as it exposes companies and practices that may not be favorable in the public eye.
Still, some of the stories are ridiculous and tremendously slanted toward the left and will turn off a large portion of the population. Just like how a lot of people don’t use digg because sometimes it turns into a left-wing pow wow.
*standing on chair and clapping hands*
Bravo, Michael. It takes a lot of courage to post what you did, instead of paying obligatory lipservice to liberal activism.
Why? Because you’ve pointed out the truth about this company. Namely, despite the Bay Area’s de rigeur PC rhetoric, ‘free speech’ only flies if you’re saying what the ’smug crowd’ wants to hear. Deviate from the chorus, and you’ll be bounced and branded.
You wrote: “I’m guessing [those with opposing views] will be quickly beaten out of dotherightthing.com, leaving a smug nest of do-gooders behind to fix all of our problems by complaining about them in unison.”
Exactly. And in their view, simply this startup’s name “DoTheRightThing” should probably qualify for accolades and shelter them from criticism.
To free thinkers, “the right thing” is subjective and does not always fall in support of those who merely complain the loudest. That would be the stupidthing.com
Perhaps I’m perceiving things wrong, but what I get out the site is this:
There are companies that make bad decisions. If enough people voice their opinion on those actions, it might limit further occurrences based purely on morality (NOT laws). Being in the world of entrepreneurship and business, I like this… It gives me an idea of what people want - when you learn what people want, you can further yourself and your business.
Of course, I’m sure we’ll see people voting negative morale simply because of the companies reputation and not a specific review of a particular action.
I’ll probably regret admitting that I am right-wing (on most issues - not all), and I don’t have a problem with this site. However, that will change if I see people voting against companies simply because of their name, profitability, or other matters that are simply out of the companies control.
Michael:
I was astounded at your comment: “Since they are somewhat hypocritically a for-profit startup, they hope to make a buck or two along the way as well.”
What on earth is hypocritical about what the site is doing. As has already been pointed out by another commenter, they spent time and resources creating the tool. Did they not????
This is a universe of unlimited possibilities, where we should be able to- without stress or ’superior’ attitude- reward value for value. There persons have created value, so let value flow to them in exchange; and let monetary means be included in that, so that they might increase and even improve their value creating power.
I don’t get you on that comment AT ALL. How could you begrudge someone else putting bread on their table, at the same moment that you are enthusiastically engaged putting a nice amount on your own???
Hey guys - if you want to share your rants, just go check out ThingSucks.com
http://thingsucks.com/
This site is revolting
It seems like a Digg-style site will be created for just about everything, no matter how dumb. In this case, I agree that DoTheRightThing will probably degenerate into an echo chamber.
Whether you are a liberal or conservative, die-hard capitalist or die-hard socialist, etc., I think it’s pretty naive to expect that this type of site is going to have any impact. I don’t see a corporation changing its ways because a group of people vote that they’re not doing the “right” thing. I think there are a lot of amoral corporations and people out there, but I think people might consider being pragmatic about the fact that when there’s big money involved, “good” and “bad” is all relative to the people who are collecting it.
See what having blog comments get’s ya? Bravo for having them, Mike. Maybe you should review a good debate site.
I’m going to bring everyone together by saying let’s wait and see how the site develops.
There’s nothing hypocritical about dotherightthing.com being a for-profit business, and also being a place where people can rate how good or bad particular companies or decisions by companies are. They’re not saying “Rate how not-for-profit these companies are”, or “Rate these NGOs” or somesuch.
I think it’s a great idea, and I’m surprised there aren’t more websites like it!
All, thanks for sharing your thoughts on dotherightthing.com. I respect the fact that many of you might not believe much in the social responsibility of businesses and am honored to have participated in at least starting what has become a great discussion.
I’ve spoken to countless people on the other side of the coin, who have had trouble sifting through the endless stream of information relating to companies’ efforts to improve the lives of consumers, employees, and members of the communities and want a better resource to answer the question “does this company really do the right thing?”
Companies are pioneering new ways to make the world better already, dotherightthing just creates a place for people to recognize them for what they are already doing, especially since companies do some really tremendous things and don’t believe in advertising any of it. Their efforts go unrecognized, but to them that isn’t what any of it was about in the first place.
Mike A., many thanks for the post. Our users were absolutely raving about the tremendous potential of dotherightthing, so I didn’t think that it would be long before the story broke.
Pedrito4809, thank you for expressing your thoughts on our site. As I mentioned above, I respect your perspective and agree with you that the site may not serve your interests, at least yet. You should also rest assured that the only posts from Rod and myself are the two that are clearly labeled as such. It would be too easy to supply false support for the site by posting as other people, and it certainly wouldn’t be doing the right thing. I actually would like to take a second to thank those above who responded with their words of support for dotherightthing and recognizing businesses that actively work to make the world better. I look forward to contributing to the growth of dotherightthing so that it will serve your interest in buying from, investing in, even working for companies that will do the right thing with our hard-earned money.
Whether or not you believe in the responsibilities of businesses to people, the dynamic of modern business is changing fast. And you won’t have to be a “believer” for it to positively affect your life or those of your friends and family.
I will leave you all with one of my favorite quotes: “You can either watch the world turn or make the world turn. Either way, you’ll feel it turning.” -Zhony Zhony
Best,
Ryan
http://dotherightthing.com/users/ryan
“Bravo, Michael. It takes a lot of courage to post what you did, instead of paying obligatory lipservice to liberal activism.” What? “doing the right thing” is the same as “liberal activism?” I’m not liberal by any stretch, but finding out about companies and the good and bad they do just makes sense. And, puhleeze, “takes a lot of courage to post…??” seriously? you thought that? wow.
I like the site and think it is a great idea.
Mike, you crash more sites than Googlebot. That’s 2 in a row.
I’m flummoxed, why is this a story?
I went to take a look but the site was down. What I’d really like to see is a ’stock market’ or ’stock index’ based on a companies negative or positive impact on the community and environment as a whole.
Then folks could invest in companies with a positive index, providing companies that do not act responsibly with a monetary incentive to improve.
I would think that a Political DIGG would of had an announcement by now… This rubbish isn’t worth a nickel. I would much rather go to ‘consumer revenge’ sites to talk bad about corporations… PLus Like I care if they “do the right thing” as long as they get me what I want and don’t screw me.
These are interesting times we are living. Here is a hypothetical, yet plausible, scenario:
A high-ranking Wal-Mart exec flies to Beijing, China, checks into a swanky 5-star hotel. His local contact sets up a lunch meeting for him with a high-ranking Communist Party boss, after all, his company does massive business with China. In the midst of chowing down lobster in Kung Pao sauce, he thinks to himself, “Back in my college days I wrote anti-Communist essays, and my hero is, and has always been, Ronald Reagan, the arch anti-communist. Now, here I am shaking hands with a community party boss in three-piece-suit, forcing a big smile on my face because I need him to help me open more Wal-Mart stores in China. To do business in China, I need to pay tax to the communist government, thus strengthening their grip on their people. Wow, what have I become?”
Yes, readers, what has he become?
Wal-Mart is a metaphor of modern capitalism, which is evolving. Talking and ranting about Wal-Mart is, at least, a worthwhile intellectual exercise.
This thread is interesting. You always wonder what kind of ideology lies under the surface of supposedly open-minded, “enlightened”, brainy industries like the tech industry.
Now I know. I don’t get to see rabid techno-libertarianism in it’s native habitat very often. This thread is a perfect example of it. Now I know it’s there. Thanks for the peek behind the curtain.
Seems the site is down now, perhaps if failed under load from Crunch?
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503 Service Unavailable
No server is available to handle this request.
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Or perhaps they are blocking us surfers from the Bahamas — haha!
Regards,
Ricahrd.
i’m sure itws another place to bitch an wine; but i’m a more “take it to the streets” kinda guy…the problem i have with people who just complain is, 1) they still drive, and 2) they’re mostly affulent white people; talk to a poor person about price and walmart…but I guess in america the main demographic is affulent and white.
JJ - “Now I know. I don’t get to see rabid techno-libertarianism in it’s native habitat very often. This thread is a perfect example of it. Now I know it’s there. Thanks for the peek behind the curtain.”
Yes. You actually nailed it. I am a radical libertarian actually. I don’t get into politics very often on this site, but whenever I see too many people grouping together and pointing a finger at others, I get nervous. There are too many historical examples of really, really bad stuff happening once people start doing this.
All,
We never could have anticipated that the first week of dotherightthing’s launch to the world would generate such tremendous interest. The site is currently experiencing a tremendous load and is unable to accommodate all of the traffic we are receiving. We really appreciate your interest and are working hard to ensure that all of your will be able to participate on the site shortly.
Thanks for your patience,
Ryan
dotherightthing.com
lol, yes, Mike, this is *the* other - you have won on this post. WON. everything about it was beautiful. From the neutral intro to the clear bitchslap at the end. You have been bumped up a couple of levels today my friend.
Wow, now bumpersticker politics has a web 2.0 counterpart.
Having worked at Wholefoods for 7 years, I particularly enjoy the organic-bashing!
keep it up!