Post by High Priestess on Apr 27, 2016 4:27:03 GMT
NPR has a podcast here about the issue of discrimination on Airbnb:
www.npr.org/2016/04/26/475773261/when-personalization-leads-to-discrimination-on-airbnb
Also another podcast on "Airbnb While Black"
www.npr.org/2016/04/26/475623339/-airbnbwhileblack-how-hidden-bias-shapes-the-sharing-economy
Paper on Racial Discrimination on Craigslist:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2605853
I think we have to be careful about making presumptions about why hosts decline guests. While not wanting to deny that racial discrimination does exist, because it certainly does, deciding whether to accept a guest is a many-faceted thing.
Quirtina Crittenden
For instance when I look at the photo of Quirtina Crittenden, I see a "glammy" woman, and I have had bad experiences with "glam girls" as guests at my house -- they dont' really fit what I offer. Dowdily dressed middle aged men and women are more my type....as are young students, researchers. I have gotten the most viscious ratings and review from the women whose profile photos looked the "glammiest" so now I am more cautious about those. WHich is something that Quirtina might not even think about if she gets a decline from me.
I have had a few "glamorous" looking women stay at my house in the past (glammy in their photos) and this has been problematic in every instance. They tended to be more demanding than other guests. One complained about quite trivial things and gave me extremely low ratings in a couple categories -- something that is quite unusual. Another violated house rules, and I had to speak to her about that, at which point she developed a bad attitude, refused to speak to me in my house, and wrote what is probably the most vindictive and most negative review any guest has ever written of a stay at my house.
THe cityscape is not the way to go, though Quirtina, --- Airbnb is encouraging hosts to go in the other direction, from portraying themselves as sunsets and cities to showing their faces. And for good reason. Just ask a host.
If Quirtina had inquired to stay at my house and her profile showed a cityscape instead of her face, I would ask her to change her profile photo to that of a city, and not accept her until she did. We are inviting people into our homes and looking at their photo is one important means of deciding if we want that person in our house. "A picture is worth a thousand words" as the saying goes.
www.npr.org/2016/04/26/475773261/when-personalization-leads-to-discrimination-on-airbnb
Also another podcast on "Airbnb While Black"
www.npr.org/2016/04/26/475623339/-airbnbwhileblack-how-hidden-bias-shapes-the-sharing-economy
Paper on Racial Discrimination on Craigslist:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2605853
I think we have to be careful about making presumptions about why hosts decline guests. While not wanting to deny that racial discrimination does exist, because it certainly does, deciding whether to accept a guest is a many-faceted thing.
Quirtina Crittenden
For instance when I look at the photo of Quirtina Crittenden, I see a "glammy" woman, and I have had bad experiences with "glam girls" as guests at my house -- they dont' really fit what I offer. Dowdily dressed middle aged men and women are more my type....as are young students, researchers. I have gotten the most viscious ratings and review from the women whose profile photos looked the "glammiest" so now I am more cautious about those. WHich is something that Quirtina might not even think about if she gets a decline from me.
I have had a few "glamorous" looking women stay at my house in the past (glammy in their photos) and this has been problematic in every instance. They tended to be more demanding than other guests. One complained about quite trivial things and gave me extremely low ratings in a couple categories -- something that is quite unusual. Another violated house rules, and I had to speak to her about that, at which point she developed a bad attitude, refused to speak to me in my house, and wrote what is probably the most vindictive and most negative review any guest has ever written of a stay at my house.
THe cityscape is not the way to go, though Quirtina, --- Airbnb is encouraging hosts to go in the other direction, from portraying themselves as sunsets and cities to showing their faces. And for good reason. Just ask a host.
If Quirtina had inquired to stay at my house and her profile showed a cityscape instead of her face, I would ask her to change her profile photo to that of a city, and not accept her until she did. We are inviting people into our homes and looking at their photo is one important means of deciding if we want that person in our house. "A picture is worth a thousand words" as the saying goes.