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AirBnB and everything around it has mutated into something big and ugly since where it began. Seems like we need good old couch surfing forums back.

• Loughla 5y ago
  >AirBnB and everything around it has mutated into something big and ugly since where it began. Now I am 100% out of the sphere of technology, but isn't skirting regulation to make money exactly how AirBnB got started?
  • qwerty456127 5y ago
    It started as a convenience for people willing to let people they like crash at their place while they are away and get some pocket money for their own travel. Mostly unofficially, yes, and I feel no problem with this. But they turnt it into big business. Now whole buildings are built for AirBnB, professional landlords take mortgages to buy apartments just to let them at AirBnB, it's all over in the news, the prices are on par with hotels and the landlords seemingly don't care about any "face control" (as they normally would if it was about letting their actual home for a weekend) so even thugs can have the keys.
  • strix_varius 5y ago
    Purely anecdotal, but my earliest experiences with AirBnB were all staying as a guest in someone's home, which typically doesn't violate local regulations. You're allowed to have occasional guests crashing in your guest room in most residential areas. Now, of course, AirBnB encourages fully investing in it as a landlord platform, where you rent and automate multiple whole properties and never meet the guests. That behavior lowers the quality of life in many tourist destinations today.