Host profiles

Leo2569
Level 2
Boston, MA

Host profiles

Profiles for hosting, I was trying to make my profile look well on my page adding a good bio,

 

What are the rules for adding to your host bio? I figure they might have some rules of what you can or cant put in your bio etc.\

 

or if there is another discussion pertaining to this that would be awesome

23 Replies 23
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Leo2569 Not sure what kind of rules you think you might break in writing a bio, but if you put in links to a website or blog you might have, something like that, Airbnb will remove it and put (Hidden by Airbnb) in its place, which looks crummy. In fact, that has already been done on your profile write up.

 

Saying for guests to contact you on social media with inquiries, as you have done, is a really bad idea and can cause Airbnb to close down your listing. So that is definitely something that you should get rid of Asap. Guests are supposed to send inquiries through the Airbnb platform. The company is really sticky about hosts and guests booking outside the platform if they have found your ad through the platform.

 

And if I were you, I would write a bio that reads less like a job resume. Guests are more interested in seeing you as a person, rather than being that interested in where you have worked, although it's fine to mention the line of work you are in, if you volunteer for anything, support certain non-profit organizations, etc. I'd say more about your everyday interests and life  attitude. For instance, do you participate in sports, like to travel yourself, enjoy DIY projects around the house, that kind of thing. 

 

Also be aware that guests tend not to read through long stuff. 

 

 

Andrea4731
Level 10
West Palm Beach, FL

I think you might have tried to add a link to your social media in your bio & it just says (hidden by Airbnb)

Leo2569
Level 2
Boston, MA

I haven't added any links but I wanted to know what was acceptable and or not @Sarah977  much appreciated 

 

Is it better to decline submissions or let the inquiry run out? if you cannot accept the booking

Mike-And-Jane0
Top Contributor
England, United Kingdom

@Leo2569 If it is an enquiry then just respond but no need to accept/decline. If it is a booking request then you must accept or decline within 24 hours

John5097
Level 10
Charleston, SC

@Leo2569 Congrats on getting your listing up and running. Its very encouraging you are seeking more information on the rules and good practices. I think your bio looks good. Now that the blocked links are removed, guest will understand a lot about you: undergraduate, purposeful, carrier oriented, and some experience with some corporate projects.  I have read of other host including a link to a blog but may not have been in the bio section. ABB also just started blocking links in other places also. I could understand how links to social media could help guest get to know host better, but at the same time, as others have said, communicating out of the message center can also be risky for host. Just follow the forums for a few days and host will post big long drama upset at ABB but it all went down on Whatsapp or something so nothing CS can do to help. Good luck! 

Leo2569
Level 2
Boston, MA

@Mike-And-Jane0  ah ok i see  booking request must be responded to then

Mike-And-Jane0
Top Contributor
England, United Kingdom

@Leo2569 A few comments if I may:

You have no check out time. This will be a problem for you!

Your profile is......Well let's just say it needs a lot of work not least because there is no such word as 'conversate' in the English language and if there is in the USA it should be banned.

It's not clear but I think you are offering 1 private room in a 3 bedroom house?

 

Hope the above help

Mike-And-Jane0
Top Contributor
England, United Kingdom

@Colleen253 As I feared - A US informal aberration that has no place in the English language!

@Mike-And-Jane0   The idea that the English language needs to be protected from African-American vernacular has far more toxic and colonialist implications than you might realize.

Mike-And-Jane0
Top Contributor
England, United Kingdom

@Anonymous Your post is a new one on me. The English language is going downhill fast as even a group set up to protect the proper use of apostrophes has recently been disbanded. Am I allowed to demand that these are used properly or does that also have toxic implications?

@Mike-And-Jane0  You're allowed to have your preferences about how people communicate with you, but you're absolutely not in any position to make a "demand" about a living, dynamic language with 1.348 billion speakers (only 5% of whom happen to live on your island). You might want to consider what historical circumstances led up to you feeling otherwise.

 

The most humanistic purpose of a language is to facilitate mutual understanding, not to assert cultural supremacy. So while I can empathize with your preference for "proper" usages over vernaculars that are unfamiliar to you (especially as an immigrant in a country whose primary language is my fourth), I don't think it's a very good look to attack a phrasing you dislike on the explicit basis that it's foreign and disturbs the precious purity of the imperial tongue.

 

@Sarah977  I'm guessing you don't listen to much hip-hop...

@Anonymous  My ex, who was raised in London, was incredibly pedantic, insisting that only Brits spoke "proper" English and that American English was "wrong". Drove me up the wall.

@Anonymous  Good guess. Hiphop isn't part of my music collection, although I do like some of it. And I wasn't aware that "conversate" was African-American vernacular.