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Generally, I feel people are too cynical. And writing-off the Facebook and LinkedIn integration as merely a ploy for access to your social graph at first made m
by encoderer 13y ago
Generally, I feel people are too cynical. And writing-off the Facebook and LinkedIn integration as merely a ploy for access to your social graph at first made my eyes roll.
But the truth is, there are a lot of things we do online that require real, meaningful identity verification. You put your SSN and DOB in and the computer gives you a series of multiple-choice questions from items on your credit report. People are used to them. They work.
And at the least, why not offer the credit report ID verification as the backup, perhaps alongside this video? Seems to me it would really cover their bases: The free spirits who would sooner die than submit to a credit check can produce a video. The professional, 2-million-miler, harvard-law types wouldn't flinch at an identity check that they've done every time they opened a credit card or bank account or many investment accounts or used the US Treasury or IRS systems or a credit monitoring product or, the list goes on. There's just a nominal cost associated with these, and unlike applications for credit they do not impact a persons credit score.
I'm not sold, but maybe there's something to the reliance on Facebook and LinkedIn afterall?
- s_baby 13y agoI have neither. What am I supposed to do?
- mwfunk 13y agoDon't use a service that requires you to have one? Or make an account with one of them so you can use a service that requires you to have one? Seems pretty straightforward.
- guard-of-terra 13y ago1) seems straightforward along with making them a bad name every time it comes to discussion.
- prodigal_erik 13y ago> And writing-off the Facebook and LinkedIn integration as merely a ploy for access to your social graph Even if they actually didn't set out to get it (unlikely), I have no doubt at all that they'll abuse it once they have it. Rule #1: spammers lie.
- aacook 13y agoSo many startups have screwed this up. It makes sense why everyone is skeptical. But really, why do they need my LinkedIn? LinkedIn is something I do not use. At this point, I just auto-accept all contacts and never check it. I know Airbnb uses my Facebook connections to show my friends that I've stayed at a particular place. That, to me, is fine. But, most of my LinkedIn connections are random acquaintances. I asked a couple of my friends and it's the same for them: Facebook for closer connections, LinkedIn for garbage. I don't need my LinkedIn connections knowing all the Airbnb places I've stayed at. I've stayed at 10+ Airbnb places and have perfect reviews. I also willingly (a couple weeks ago) uploaded my driver's license. Host now have a clear idea of me based on my license and past reviews. Do hosts really need to know my LinkedIn profile? Honestly, to me, it seems like Airbnb wants to build out its graph and social connections. Maybe not spam you, but the social connections feature is pretty powerful so I can see why they'd want more social connections. I have more to say but this is getting long. My opinion on all this right now is that Airbnb is experiencing a supply/demand tilt (more demand than supply) and they can afford to weed out the "crappy" demand (even if it's my aunt using Airbnb for the first time).