Keywords: "rating system" and "review system."
Reference: Facebook, Amazon, and Michelin restaurants
There has been much debate about the guest review system. On the one hand, there are disputes between hosts and guests; on the other hand, Airbnb needs to invest significant resources to manage these disputed reviews.
A rating system represents an objective fact, like 1+1=2. It's an unchanging truth, unaffected by personal preferences. It doesn't become 3 just because you like it, nor does it become 4 because you dislike it. No matter how you feel, 1+1 will always equal 2.
However, a review system reflects subjective feelings. For example, my property has a skylight. Guest A loves it because they can see stars and the moon at night. Guest B dislikes it because they can't sleep with the moonlight shining in. This is a clear difference in subjective feelings. In other words, for the same fact, A and B have completely different perceptions, which are directly linked to an objective rating. Guest A gave me a five-star rating because they liked the skylight, while Guest B gave me only two stars because they disliked it.
As a host, I know that once you get a shallow score, it takes a long time to recover. New guests will see this low score (objective), but this low score is actually derived from a subjective impression. This is the biggest fallacy: transforming a subjective impression into an objective judgment.
It is the biggest problem or paradox: combining subjective feelings with objective facts. I believe this is irreconcilable and cannot be merged. These two systems should not be placed together.
Guests should not be able to give an objective rating based on their subjective feelings! This is the core issue I want to discuss: Airbnb should remove the rating system, but guests can still express their subjective feelings.
Subjective feelings can only circulate within a subjective ecosystem, and objective scores can only circulate within an objective ecosystem. Subjective feelings cannot intersect with objective ratings.
Ratings are objective facts, like taking a math exam. Each score is an objective fact, regardless of whether you like it or not.
This is the biggest difference between Amazon and Facebook, and it raises a deeper question: Is Airbnb more like Amazon, selling products where customers can give one to five-star ratings, or is it more like Facebook and Instagram, a social media platform where users give likes/favorites?
If we must rate a house, I suggest we can refer to the existing hotel star rating system and establish a unique Airbnb rating system, similar to the current Superhost system.
Another important example is Michelin restaurants. Customers can leave comments on Michelin restaurants, but Michelin doesn't let customers rate the restaurants again.
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In my opinion, Airbnb is a fusion of multiple models. It's both a marketplace for selling properties and a community where people can communicate and interact as we are doing here. It emphasizes both renting properties and fostering communication between hosts and guests, but this communication is more subjective.
The fundamental issue is that hosts are unfairly penalized due to a rating system that disproportionately emphasizes subjective guest experiences. New guests, seeing a low rating, may make hasty judgments without considering the underlying reasons. This is analogous to the legal principle of the "fruit of the poisonous tree," where evidence obtained illegally taints subsequent findings.
Since Airbnb's inception in 2008, 16 years have passed, and I believe it's time for some changes. This would also save Airbnb a significant amount of manpower, as we can see that many disputes between guests and hosts require manual intervention.
I have expressed my core views, and I believe more hosts will offer their suggestions and ideas. I also believe that Airbnb will have some thoughts on this matter already. There are many more topics to explore, but due to time constraints, I will stop here for now.
Many thanks
Shan
