Hi Everyone,
Non-chronological review order queries have popped up before but still seem to be a key part of the way Airbnb presents listings. I really don’t like the way they sort, based on language and assumed country of residence and I would like the option for my reviews to appear in chronological order.
It does not make sense to me that Airbnb automatically reorganises them based on the details in the guests profile. This means reviews end up out of order and I believe, not as informative for my guests.
For example, I recently hosted Jessica, an Australian resident who left a nice review in English however her review only shows up on my listing way down the list in amongst other reviews dating back to 2018.
I assume at some point she wasn’t living in Australia and this is apparent to Airbnb via her account but her review is in English and she lives in Australia so why isn’t it at the top of my list?
By choosing to reorder the reviews, Airbnb is also imposing assumptions about who guests are and where they are from seemingly based on the language and location identified in their profile. This makes no sense as people are very mobile (outside of COVID) and is an artificial and I believe unnecessary way of categorising guests. In my opinion it borders on racial/ cultural profiling to assume that prospective guests aren’t interested in seeing a range of reviews from a range of people.
I am also a guest in Airbnb and in that capacity, I am interested in checking all recent reviews of a property I’m considering booking I’m highly unlikely to scroll far down the list to see recent reviews out of order.
It makes me curious if there are big gaps in reviews - until I remember about the non-chronological ordering.
I also don’t mind the language (can get translation) or where the reviewer usually lives when I’m considering their review. I’d rather just see the pattern of reviews for a host and property.
I’m wondering what does the community think?
Cheers,
Leanne