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The way many people here jumped to conclusions after the initial AirBnB story based on almost no information is really disheartening. Insulting the founders of
by coffeemug 15y ago
The way many people here jumped to conclusions after the initial AirBnB story based on almost no information is really disheartening. Insulting the founders of the company, the victim, and concocting conspiracy theories based on a few paragraphs of information with barely any evidence is a really poor way to conduct oneself. Most decent people wouldn't do it in face-to-face conversations without getting to know a person at least slightly, and it's unfortunate that our psychology is built in a way that an extra layer of anonymity afforded by the internet enables a large number of people to drop all sense of tact and respect, and jump into personal attacks with very little information about the actual incident. If you're one of the people that engaged in this type of behavior, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. You're doing real damage to real people, while knowing almost nothing about what's actually going on, but more importantly, you're damaging your own reputation.
I had the opportunity to hear the founders speak a number of times. They're one of the very few founders that are incredibly genuine about bringing a positive change into the lives of their customers. They live and breathe positive change they bring to the world, to the point where they carry letters from customers that thanked them for saving their lives because the bank would have repossessed their home if not for AirBnB. Jumping on them because they didn't have a chance to give a complete response while handling a crisis is really uncalled for.
I don't know the victim but it's easy to misinterpret events after going through an emotional trauma. Most likely it's a misunderstanding, but even if it isn't, it's really inappropriate to insult people given the information currently available. In fact, it's never appropriate to insult people, and it's best to hold back criticism until more information is available, lest you do some real damage to real people.
There are some valid concerns about where personal responsibility ends and liability begins (legally and ethically), and how AirBnB's service will evolve to address these issues, but there are different ways to discuss these concerns, and discussions here so far have been nothing but poisonous.
EDIT: I posted this comment in the other thread (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2825045 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2825045). Sorry for the crosspost, but this is getting ridiculous.
- frossie 15y agoDude, have you even read the OP? The AirBnB thing has left the building, now it is Arrington drama. Throw in PG, and this is going to be HN fodder for days. C'est la vie.
- Devilboy 15y agoYea man we live for this shit!
- zackattack 15y ago+1, insightful.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- AlexandrB 15y agoI think the problem is that in an information vacuum rumours and speculation can easily take hold. The lack of a complete, definitive account from AirBnB (that is also consistent with EJ's) means that those curious about the event have to speculate about what REALLY happened - a recipe for nastiness. Edit: Also consider how many doubted EJ's account as well - or even that anything actually happened. More speculation due to the lack of clarity regarding this event.
- skue 15y agoPlease don't lead off with telling us not to jump to conclusions, and then laying out your conclusion for us. > I had the opportunity to hear the founders speak a number of times. They're one of the very few founders that are incredibly genuine about bringing a positive change into the lives of their customers. > * I don't know the victim but it's easy to misinterpret events after going through an emotional trauma. Most likely it's a misunderstanding* People aren't all good or all bad, and sometimes good people do bad things. Even people you admire. It doesn't mean they're bad people, or that you're a bad judge of character. It just means they screwed up. You made a judgment about the character of the AirBNB folks and seem unwilling to question them now. But you haven't met the victim, and you're more than willing to imply that this is her misunderstanding while masking this in the faux compassion of saying she's just traumatized. That's not fair.
- jmtame 15y agoIt's not a matter of questioning people you admire or not, it's a matter of reserving judgment and not making personal attacks until you know all the facts from both parties.
- kyro 15y agoHe's giving you another damn perspective: that from his personal experience, he's seen the AirBnB folks to be good people and that maybe we don't have the full story; so it's unfair to launch an all out attack on them. And how do you respond? Yeah, well, good people can be bad, too! Now you're just finding any way to rationalize your jugement of the situation. He said there are valid concerns here, but is urging people to consider that there may be other factors. Come on, people.
- Hisoka 15y agoI agree. Everyone thinks they're "nice, good, honest" people. Being nice is easy. Being emotionally intelligent is hard. It's not enough to be sincere. The person who works and slaves at their day job until they're 50 and have a heart attack is sincere, but is unintelligent.
- lurker14 15y agoQuick advice, that has nothing to do with AirBnB specifically: > I had the opportunity to hear the founders speak a number of times. They're one of the very few founders that are incredibly genuine about bringing a positive change into the lives of their customers. Don't judge someone's genuineness by listening to them speak or promoting their testimonials. Watch what they actually do.