NEWS YOU CAN USE: Progressive’s #Fail in Social Media May Be Warning to Insurers.

Progressive Corp. was trying to save $75,000. Instead, it unleashed a flurry of social-media rage against the company. Now, the question is whether Progressive’s experience will prompt changes throughout the auto-insurance industry as more consumers use the Internet to tell their side of the story when they feel they’ve been slighted by their insurers.

The car insurer found itself in the middle of an online firestorm last week after a blogger named Matt Fisher took to his Tumblr page to complain about the way Progressive treated his family as they sought to collect on his deceased sister’s insurance policy.

Mr. Fisher’s story went viral, and four days later, Progressive agreed to settle with the family for an undisclosed sum. Whatever the settlement amount, the total cost of the incident will be much higher, with a tally that will include those people who made good on their Twitter threats to switch their insurance away from Progressive, as well as those who won’t consider Progressive for their insurance in the future.

Yes, the balance of power has shifted. If only someone would write a book on this phenomenon or something.