Many people claim social media is really not all that powerful. They will claim that bloggers get paid attention to because they have an audience, but that does not mean anything for the simple person who does not have thousands of people following them on Twitter or Facebook. This incident proves otherwise. This story is a clear indication of how the Web is changing the world. This story should be an inspiration to anyone who has ever experienced poor customer service. It should teach you to not sit back and take it…So here it is…

The story is about a Canadian singer named Dave Carroll who was traveling to Nebraska in the spring of 2008.  Long story short he and his friends witnessed and watched as his guitar was being thrown around on the tarmac by employees of United Airlines. He later found out that, as suspected, his $3,500 Taylor six-string guitar was broken. After many long months of bureaucracy, the airline basically said they wouldn’t compensate him for the broken guitar.

Dave responded to the airline representative and said the following: “I told them that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world. United Song 1 is the first of those songs. United Song 2 has been written, and video production is underway. United Song 3 is coming. I promise.”

So far he the video has pulled in over 3 million views in 3 days, and has already had a serious effect on United Airline’s stock price.

The point here is that anyone can produce a YouTube video, which means that anyone has the power, using the Web, to hit big corporations where it hurts them most. I hope the other videos are as good as this one and that he really “sticks it to them.” I myself, as I am sure many of you, have been messed over by these companies and I am glad they are getting what they deserve. The power Of social media wins again.

Follow Dave on Twitter and keep up with the news- http://twitter.com/DaveCarroll

I will update when more videos come out, but for now, check out the video:

-Aryeh

Update: Taylor Guitars (the company that manufactered the broken guitar) also joins in the conversation: