Airbnb needs a reminder of what ‘community’ means.

Superhosts! They sound amazing, right? And they are—they’re the best hosts in the Airbnb community. They host often, and they get great reviews. So, it’s all the more puzzling why Airbnb doesn’t exactly treat them well.

Forget about well—they don’t even treat them fairly.

I’ve used Airbnb a number of times, but it wasn’t until a recent stay that I fully grasped what it means to be a Superhost in their community. After a great stay with no complaints, I received the standard request from Airbnb to leave a review for my host. I made a note of it, and told myself I would get to it later. As a market research professional, I typically jump at any request to take a survey or give feedback. But, as tends to happen, life got busy and leaving a review was just not one of my top priorities. Until I received a text on the last possible day I could write the review.

The text was from my host—a Superhost, at that. She asked me if I would kindly leave her a review because otherwise, she would be in danger of losing her Superhost status. She briefly explained that Superhosts need to receive reviews from at least half of their guests in order to keep their status and privileges.

I had no idea. I had no idea, and I was pissed about it.

I immediately wrote her a glowing review (because she deserved it), but I felt awful inside. I couldn’t believe that such a small action (or inaction) on my part could have such a big impact on someone else, and I wasn’t even aware of it. I could believe that just because I have a busy life, or because I’m forgetful, or because I just don’t have anything noteworthy to say, or because—let me reiterate—I don’t even know this rule exists, a perfectly wonderful host has to suffer the consequences?

A perfectly wonderful host, that is, who greeted me with a bottle of wine, made me coffee every morning, asked me how my day was every evening, has a bulletin board covered in sweet notes left by previous guests, and needs the extra income that hosting provides her.

I could have unknowingly caused her emotional or financial harm. A perfectly wonderful host. A perfectly wonderful person.

WHAT?

This isn’t just some random loophole or minor flaw in an otherwise effective and equitable system. This is the system. This system fully allows for this kind of stuff to happen; it essentially encourages it by intentionally keeping guests uninformed of how it works.

And this Superhost review issue is just one of many caused by a lack of transparency and fairness in the Airbnb rating and review system. Here’s another big problem: anything less than a five-star rating is actually a knock against the host’s performance, in the eyes of Airbnb. But certainly not in the eyes of regular people who are accustomed to five-star rating systems (think Yelp! or traditional hotel classifications) meaning something entirely different. It is generally understood that perfection is difficult to attain, so four stars is more than acceptable by most people’s standards. It means that whatever’s being rated is pretty great; it’s definitely better than good, but not quite perfect—often right where our expectations lay. But rather than be more fairly judged by this cultural norm, Airbnb hosts are bound and gagged by a system that has consequences that consumers are completely unaware of.



(And aside from its inequity, the system doesn’t even have to be this complicated. If you don’t want to play by the generally accepted rules of what a five-star rating system means, then at least simplify your assessments to something we all get: yes or no. Were you satisfied with your stay here? Yes or no. Was it as clean as you expected it to be? Yes or no. Was this place worth the price? Yes or no. Was there anything wrong with your stay here? Yes or no. It’s that simple. And it seems much more fair that a “no” here should bear some consequences. Granted you can’t completely get away from subjectivity in any kind of rating system, but you can at least ask more pointedly about what really matters.)

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So, here’s one definition of community: a social group sharing common interests.



The current system doesn’t seem like it was built with the best interests of either the hosts or the guests in mind, but it doesn’t seem like it has Airbnb’s best interests at heart either. We’re not really sure whose interests this community is built on.

How is it in anyone’s best interest to keep Airbnb’s best hosts constantly on edge about whether or not they can continue to be a part of this community? How is it in anyone’s best interest to unintentionally encourage these hosts to only accept guests who seem like they’ll leave an excellent rating and review? How is it in anyone’s interest to perpetuate feelings of wariness, distrust, and discouragement among their hosts, rather than feelings of warmth, welcoming, and open-mindedness?

How is it in anyone’s best interest to keep guests uninformed—and quite frankly, deceived—about how their seemingly innocuous participation in the community negatively affects other members? How is in anyone’s best interest to leave guests ignorant of their hosts’ needs and how they can support each other?



How is it in anyone’s best interest to foster a community of opposition, instead of allowing guests and hosts to work together to create the best community possible?



Airbnb claims to have created a community. Don’t they know what that means? Don’t they know that the interests of their hosts and guests are inextricably tied to their own?