4 ms·

Everyone is saying "well obviously AirBnB can't end racism" but what have they actually done to solve their local problem? Have they sent out an email to their

by evan_ 10y ago

Everyone is saying "well obviously AirBnB can't end racism" but what have they actually done to solve their local problem? Have they sent out an email to their hosts that says "please don't discriminate based on race"? Is there a way to report hosts engaging in discriminatory practices? If so are those taken seriously? Not being able to solve the problem 100% doesn't mean they shouldn't try to do anything. (Now, maybe they have done a bunch of stuff, I don't know, but it seems like there's still a problem)

golergka 10y ago
AirBnB is a platform to connect vendors and buyers; they're closer to a measenger app than a hotel business. Airbnb trying to end hosts racism makes as much sense as Facebook censoring racist messages.
- abalone 10y ago
  That's like saying Amazon's not responsible for the products sold on its platform. There's plenty Airbnb can do to ensure their hosts aren't racists. They have complete oversight of the booking process. They can detect racist rejection patterns and investigate.
  - evan_ 10y ago
    ...or at least are not using their platform to engage in racist practices.
  - Will_Do 10y ago
    No it isn't. Amazon owns the majority (although not all) of the products sold on its platform. Airbnb owns 0% of the houses put up for rent on their platform.
    - abalone 10y ago
      Yes it is. Amazon supports 3rd party sellers.
      - evan_ 10y ago
        In fact 40% of its sales in 2014 were third-party sellers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Marketplace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Marketplace
- askafriend 10y ago
  Nextdoor is a messaging platform too, even more so than AirBnB, but the difference is that they are taking steps to combat racial profiling on their platform. Steps like meeting with concerned parties in-person and having open dialogue with their user-base. They are even working with external parties to test some product ideas that they believe would help the situation (though it is acknowledged that it's impossible to completely eliminate something so deeply ingrained in a society and culture). [1][2][3] I think there's a marked difference in attitude between the companies towards a problem they both face and just because Facebook or Big Company X ignore stuff like this doesn't mean it's ok for everyone to ignore it. A change in attitude alone is progress on these fronts and we should hold more of these companies accountable so that they at least try to do something. It's not their responsibility to eliminate racism, but I believe it is their responsibility to try to understand how and why something like this manifests on their platform and try to take steps to curb it. It's not an easy problem by any means, but try is the key word here. More companies taking well-intentioned steps like this leads to learnings that can be shared across our industry. [1] https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/01/27/our-commitment-to-end-racial-profiling-on-nextdoor/ https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/01/27/our-commitment-to-end-r... [2] https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/04/12/improvements-to-how-our-members-post-about-crime-and-safety/ https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/04/12/improvements-to-how-our... [3] https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/04/26/continued-improvements-to-how-our-members-post-about-crime-and-safety/ https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/04/26/continued-improvements-...
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > AirBnB is a platform to connect vendors and buyers; they're closer to a measenger app than a hotel business. Since they monetize by taking a share of transactions, they are a lot more like an involved participant in the transaction than an uninterested messenger.
- yitchelle 10y ago
  It totally make sense for Airbnb to work on this and to end it. Racism should be stopped at all levels, and by everyone everywhere. Using some simple logic, it would be quite easy to detect signs of racial bias during booking.
- onetwotree 10y ago
  The idea isn't to end the hosts' racism, it's to prevent them from discriminating. Ending racism is a complex and perhaps ultimately unsolvable problem, but mitigating it's effects is something we can and should do.
tomsun 10y ago
From a business perspective, they can convert and retain a lot more users if they actually try to dampen the racism on the website.
funkysquid 10y ago
Agreed. I'd also say if people are using them to discriminate on race, they shouldn't allow the hosts to see profile pictures of prospective renters.
Will_Do 10y ago
It is an interesting question how far AirBNB could go to reduce racism on their platform. An email reminder won't work. Someone who is uncomfortable having a particular ethnic group will not be swayed by an email reminder not to be racist. Furthermore, unless racism is widespread in a particular area, it may not be possible to identify racists with statistical analysis and threaten racist hosts with banning. I can imagine this working in a relatively racist place where >5% of hosts refuse service for a particular (and relatively common) ethnicity but it's likely rare enough in most parts of the U.S. to avoid reliable detection without false positives.

by evan_ 10y ago

golergka 10y ago

AirBnB is a platform to connect vendors and buyers; they're closer to a measenger app than a hotel business. Airbnb trying to end hosts racism makes as much sense as Facebook censoring racist messages.

abalone 10y ago
That's like saying Amazon's not responsible for the products sold on its platform. There's plenty Airbnb can do to ensure their hosts aren't racists. They have complete oversight of the booking process. They can detect racist rejection patterns and investigate.
- evan_ 10y ago
  ...or at least are not using their platform to engage in racist practices.
- Will_Do 10y ago
  No it isn't. Amazon owns the majority (although not all) of the products sold on its platform. Airbnb owns 0% of the houses put up for rent on their platform.
  - abalone 10y ago
    Yes it is. Amazon supports 3rd party sellers.
    - evan_ 10y ago
      In fact 40% of its sales in 2014 were third-party sellers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Marketplace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Marketplace
askafriend 10y ago
Nextdoor is a messaging platform too, even more so than AirBnB, but the difference is that they are taking steps to combat racial profiling on their platform. Steps like meeting with concerned parties in-person and having open dialogue with their user-base. They are even working with external parties to test some product ideas that they believe would help the situation (though it is acknowledged that it's impossible to completely eliminate something so deeply ingrained in a society and culture). [1][2][3] I think there's a marked difference in attitude between the companies towards a problem they both face and just because Facebook or Big Company X ignore stuff like this doesn't mean it's ok for everyone to ignore it. A change in attitude alone is progress on these fronts and we should hold more of these companies accountable so that they at least try to do something. It's not their responsibility to eliminate racism, but I believe it is their responsibility to try to understand how and why something like this manifests on their platform and try to take steps to curb it. It's not an easy problem by any means, but try is the key word here. More companies taking well-intentioned steps like this leads to learnings that can be shared across our industry. [1] https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/01/27/our-commitment-to-end-racial-profiling-on-nextdoor/ https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/01/27/our-commitment-to-end-r... [2] https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/04/12/improvements-to-how-our-members-post-about-crime-and-safety/ https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/04/12/improvements-to-how-our... [3] https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/04/26/continued-improvements-to-how-our-members-post-about-crime-and-safety/ https://blog.nextdoor.com/2016/04/26/continued-improvements-...
dragonwriter 10y ago
> AirBnB is a platform to connect vendors and buyers; they're closer to a measenger app than a hotel business. Since they monetize by taking a share of transactions, they are a lot more like an involved participant in the transaction than an uninterested messenger.
yitchelle 10y ago
It totally make sense for Airbnb to work on this and to end it. Racism should be stopped at all levels, and by everyone everywhere. Using some simple logic, it would be quite easy to detect signs of racial bias during booking.
onetwotree 10y ago
The idea isn't to end the hosts' racism, it's to prevent them from discriminating. Ending racism is a complex and perhaps ultimately unsolvable problem, but mitigating it's effects is something we can and should do.

tomsun 10y ago

From a business perspective, they can convert and retain a lot more users if they actually try to dampen the racism on the website.

funkysquid 10y ago

Agreed. I'd also say if people are using them to discriminate on race, they shouldn't allow the hosts to see profile pictures of prospective renters.

Will_Do 10y ago

It is an interesting question how far AirBNB could go to reduce racism on their platform. An email reminder won't work. Someone who is uncomfortable having a particular ethnic group will not be swayed by an email reminder not to be racist. Furthermore, unless racism is widespread in a particular area, it may not be possible to identify racists with statistical analysis and threaten racist hosts with banning. I can imagine this working in a relatively racist place where >5% of hosts refuse service for a particular (and relatively common) ethnicity but it's likely rare enough in most parts of the U.S. to avoid reliable detection without false positives.