I read that group daily and while I think a lot of it was wrong, I dont think a fb group should be closed down. Fact is that Air does not protect hosts correctly, nor vet correctly. Too many hosts drink at the holy alter of Airbnb
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These are two separate issues. Two wrongs don’t make a right. We previously discussed that Facebook blacklist group. If nothing else it’s a way for a host to open themselves up to a libel suit.
As I said previously, any host who thinks a guest blacklist would be just or effective should imagine a host blacklist. If they are fine with a host blacklist then it’s fair to think a guest blacklist is right.
The problems of Airbnb aren’t going to be mitigated by blacklists.
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From the article this caught my eye:
“discussions among hosts in these groups advocating to forego renting to Chinese people because they allegedly leave critical reviews, avoid guests more than 70 years old, and shun women traveling in groups.”
I’m in one of those groups and eventually will be in another of them. I hope I’ll be able to find hosts who don’t subscribe to these prejudicial views. LOL.
It’s also interesting how many hosts they outed in that article. Ironic to say the least. We often warn people here about what they post, if for no reason than it’s a public forum that places high in google searches. We all need to vent at times and the private message threads can be useful for that.
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If you’re moving to China, then I am definitely coming to visit.
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LOL. No, moving to over 70 I hope. I have an American friend who moved to NZ but has worked on and off most of the last 6 years in Suzhou China. I didn’t go to visit. She didn’t make it sound that appealing.
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I looked at that group around the same time I first found this forum. It didn’t take 10 minutes to realize the Facebook group wasn’t helpful.
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What caught my eye is that some hosts were named and what they said about guests was called out. That’s some serious karma.
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@Brian_R170 I did the same. I joined, read a few posts and jumped back out. The amount of all caps ranting made me feel a little sick and sad.
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Threads of a similar nature crop of here on the regular and it is always the same personalities that defend the speech (politically correct! justice warriors!) and always the moderators who decry it as inappropriate, prejudicial and first and foremost UNPROFESSIONAL.
Moderators here are looking out for not only the health of the forum culture for members, but also the airhostsforum property for the owner of the site and the home sharing industry as a whole. This forum is PUBLIC. The posts are indexed by Google and available to all to read for free. The next time someone starts a thread complaining about guests - or broad generalizations - based on their country of origin, ethnic background, sexuality or gender identity expect to be reminded of this very scenario.
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Facebook is poison.
RR
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Why do you say that?
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I blame them for electing Trump.
RR
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Oh, okay. I’m going to back out of that convo but for the record, I love Facebook. Like many things it’s not perfect but I’m reminded of the Ani diFranco line from a song: Any tool is a weapon if you hold it right.
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Looks like they are going to allow it to happen again, this time there is no excuses, they know what is happening and they do not care.
I still use FB when I need to, when I have something to sell or need local news during an emergency. I had to stop posting though, I had a hard time ignoring the dumbshits and its not good for me or my business to call them out all the time.
RR
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Ah, well I made a career of that so it’s pretty easy for me. I also deleted a lot of people and I use the ignore and unfollow liberally. I’m not going to excuse FB for anything but it’s kind of like blaming telephones for people sending money to Nigeria or blaming doorbells for solicitors. (I repeat, I know they are worse but the people who fall for that BS are the ones to blame)
I’ve found Facebook to be an excellent way to maintain contact with a lot of people. It also saves a lot of folks the pain of having to sit through me showing them my pictures of my vacation. I can also find out about things I’d like to know. Just yesterday I found out one former student’s grandpa died and she will be in town and about another former student’s suicide. Not pleasant but I do like to keep up with my ex-student cohort. After the shooting here in August people who had “left” reappeared as they found it was a good tool for connecting and informing.
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No, it’s a bit more than that. Facebook takes paid ads for fake news and they do not care, or maybe they do? Maybe they manipulated the outcome for to line up with their own interests? FB is participating in this.
RR
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I should have stayed backed out like I said I was. Anyway, hating on FB is all the rage now. I get it, I hate Bernie Sanders for the same reason (got Trump elected). LOL. BTW, the real reason Trump was elected was that anachronistic and undemocratic institution called the Electoral College.
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I was hating on them before it was popular!
I sure like my electric kettle, heats the water right up.
RR
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I had to buy a new one the other day. My faithful kettle failed me. Because I decided to get the new one from Amazon (I should have just gone shopping in real life) I was two or three days without a kettle. It was awful. Truly.
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We’d have to pay for it though (via the fees we pay) and most hosts complain about the fees as it is.
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