It's become an interesting phenomena now. The rise in availability of the internet and pervasiveness of social media is making companies accountable for their wrongdoings. Of course, the more prominent/visible the complaint, the more likely it is that a company will try to act on it.

However, I don't believe that most companies would just handle problems like this in a case by case basis. IsTumblrDown made some noise, and that noise led Tumblr to recognizing a flaw in their process. At the very least, it'll make them more cautious going forward. Incidents like this can lead to long-term improvements.