AIrbnb's Computer Bot Is Running Amok Again - Now It's Taking Away Our 'Thumbs Up'!

[Rebecca181]

Hi All,

This is a light-hearted observation, because I am not attached to my 'Thumbs Up' stats (and I doubt many of us featured over there to the right are). However, I have noticed recently that many thumbs ups are being taken away from those of us featured as 'Top Contributers'. For example, Fred just lost over 20 'Thumbs Up'. Not sure about Robin or Alexandra. Sarah lost over 10, I believe. In my case, the Computer Bot has apparently decided that I am not allowed to have more than 305 'Thumbs Up' - Every time I get 305 it goes back down to 300, which is how I first noticed that the Airbnb Computer Bot was acting up (and out?) once again. Fred has had the most dramatic loss (but I know he does not care about these sort of things) - Losing over 20 'Thumbs Up' over night is quite a lot. 

This only adds to my theory that the Airbnb Computer Bot that controls all the algorithm-induced stats is slowly losing it's mind and is possibly staging a revolt against us hosts (think 'Replicants' from the book 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?' and the film, 'Blade Runner'). I can only wonder what other stats 'it' may be 'revising' - Hopefully, not our Review stats (unless it is in our favor - Unlikely, I know, but, just like an Android, this human gal can certainly dream!)

Airbnb Computer Bot - Staging A Revolt?

[Rebecca160]

@Rebecca181 This is funny! And makes no sense. Why would the bot take away Thumbs Up? Or any one else’s? Interestingly,  I see Sarah’s count, along with a few others whose posts I have never seen, as top contributors, but neither your name, nor Fred, nor Alexandra nor Robin show up. I would expect all of you to be there! But then maybe the Thumbs Up is a true variable and changes depending upon whose account you are logged in on. Nah, probably just the wacked out replicant, like you suggest!

[Rebecca181]

@Rebecca160 Yey, somebody agrees with me! The Replicant Bot strikes again!!

[Robin4]

@Rebecca181 @Rebecca160

Ah both the Rebeccas together....this could be confusing!

Girls the 'thumbs up' is a rolling calculation! A 'thumbs up' only remains on that stat for a certain amount of time and then it drops off. You don't keep on accumulating thumbs up.

At one stage last year before I disappeared for a while I had over 400 thumbs up and when I returned here again in January I had fallen totally off the scene.......not a single thumbs up and it wasn't until I posted a few threads that I started to become visible again.

@Fred gained a lot of thumbs up due to his feature post about his creation of Bird Island and the subsequent questions that came from that post. But thats old news now and Fred needs to look for another angle to boots his icons again!!

@Sarah is gaining a lot of thumbs up because of the sheer amount of posts she is making.....sort of case of....'If you throw enough mud at a wall some of it will stick' 🙂 Sorry Sarah, could not resist that one!!

@Lizzie could tell you a bit more about the timeframe of icons but Rebecca you don't keep on accumulating them, they just give an indication of how active you are in the community at any given time.....ok!

Cheers.....Rob

[Sarah977]

Haha @Robin4  I like your slinging mud comment, and I don't easily take offense.  I actually never pay much attention to Thumbs Up, although the system keeps telling me about them in the notifications, and I'd actually prefer not appearing on that list on the right, as if I'm somebody special, which I'm not, I'm just talkative. But I do find this forum really interesting, I've learned so much I never would have known about and appreciate seeing how other hosts deal with stuff plus there are so many articulate people with twisted senses of humor 🙂 

[Robin4]

@Sarah977

We all learn all the time Sarah. Like you I am not mad on being in that list on the right of a lead page because all I think that says is, those of us there need to get a life and stop spending so much time at our respective computer keyboards.

I try wherever possible to bring some element of humour into my posts. I have a fairly challenging personal life Sarah and I see a lot of 'challenging' situations here. I don't want to make fun of peoples misfortune but I have always found throughout my life a smile makes my day a lot better than a frown does, and in many instances a twisted sense of humour can be a **bleep** good attitude to have.....sanitiser permitting!!!

Cheers.....Rob

[Rebecca181]

@Robin4 @Sarah977 In my case, my occasional appearance on the right is due to seemingly incurable insomnia. Used to sleep like a rock until a bizarre string of events played havoc with my metabolism. I feel I am at least doing something constructive, versus tossing and turning and counting sheep (versus dreaming of electric ones). 

[Sarah977]

@Rebecca181  I mentioned in another thread that if one bothers to notice such things, we can tell who are the early risers and who are the night owls, just by knowing more or less what time zone they're in and when they post. I'm in the night owl camp myself, although I used to be one of those people who could sleep for 12 hours straight. Now, like you, I need a little "help" to get to sleep. But I check the CC throughout the day when I'm not excited about the next task on my daily chore or work list and am procrastinating.

But back to the original topic, I really can't see what the point of the thumbs up thing is anyway, if, like Robin explained, they just get arbitrarily subtracted. Another weirdness. Can't wait to see what anomaly your never-idle brain manages to ferret out next 🙂  #RebelHost

[Rebecca181]

@Sarah977 This is completely off-topic, but since it is my own thread I am hijacking...

I have had no less than 3 Instant Bookings from guests with no profile pics. Some are newer users, some are not new. I do ask all of them to upload profile pics and so far they have, no problem. I just got another one tonight. I am wondering, how are people able to IB without profile pics? And if a guest did not load one, would you think this is cause enough for me to ask Airbnb to cancel the booking, given I state on my listing that I require this?

[Sarah977]

@Rebecca181   I just read on another thread that users are allowed to post "profile photos" of whatever they want- their cat, their car, a cartoon character, whatever. When I first created my listing, I put in a photo of my dog, simply because I hate photos of myself, and immediately a message appeared "Is this really you?" so I changed it to my least-hated photo. Seems like they changed that policy of requiring real human photos.

I don't use IB, so I really don't know what their policy on you cancelling a booking because of no photo is, but I thought IBers had to have the requirements a host lists to be able to book. I guess when you say you require a photo, your well-loved Airbnb bot registers the cat as a profile photo.

If I were in your shoes, since you seem to have good luck with support, I'd for sure contact them and see why your IB guests are allowed to book without a real photo of themselves and if you can cancel because of it. It's crazy that we're supposed to be okay with letting people into our homes without even knowing what they look like.

[Rebecca181]

It's even worse than that, @Sarah977. These people using Instant Book successfully have NO PHOTO AT ALL! Just a gray box with the darker gray head. This latest IB included. I have written her nicely to let her know a photo of her is required (she only joined ABB two months ago, so I am giving her a chance to rectify this ommission). I also have it in my Guest Requirements under Booking Policies that guests must message me that they have read all my House Rules and agree to abide by them, along with their guests. It is amazing how few read this, and then have to go back to actually read my listing, at my request. There's GOT to be a better way...Thanks so much for your quick response, much appreciated!

[Rebecca160]

@Rebecca181If you require a profile picture, then I do not understand how a guest was able to IB. Is it a specific requirement for IB? I ask, as I just looked up what my requirements were and there was no requirement specifically for a picture, so I added one. 

Whether you have it in your requirements or not, if you ask a guest for a picture and they refuse or do not respond, then that would certainly make me uncomfortable and grounds for cancelling an IB. And, yes, as @Sarah977 points out, you have great luck with support, so you should contact them directly.

[Rebecca181]

@Rebecca160 Well, this latest guest with a gray box profile pic is happy to post a pic of herself; all guests who have had no photo have been eager to oblige my request for a photo. But I do wish that a photo of the user were REQUIRED by Airbnb before they could Instant Book. And if I ever made the request (it IS a requirement in my house rules in my listing) and a guest who booked did not honor it I would definitely call ABB to have the guest contacted and possibly cancelled. 

I did do a search here and one host had ABB call to get the photo and the guest showed up, already unhappy that they had had to post a photo, and gave the host a one star review, just because they were angry (this was a Super Host with great reviews, I believe); and to add salt to the wound, ABB refused to remove the review. Not right. This all should be taken care of in advance by ABB. No profile photo, no Instant Book privileges.

[Rebecca160]

@Rebecca181I fully agree that a profile picture should be required by Airbnb. I thought that it was was on I signed on over a year ago. Maybe they changed their own rules. Again. Without warning.  We need to get them to change back. Or drop IB.

That poor host that got a one star review for requesting a picture! Just wrong of Airbnb not to remove the review.

[Rebecca181]

@Robin4 Well, there you have it. I plead "Guilty!" once again to having an over-reaching and over-active imagination. But, one thing's for sure - I am never bored with the antics going on inside my own head! You have proven yourself once again to be a fountain of sensible information, and I thank you for it. Even though secretly I still believe that the Bots are staging a revolt with the intention of ousting us hosts out of our own listings. But it's almost my 'medication' time and I'm sure that these sorts of paranoid thoughts will be wiped out of my mind soon, and all I will be able to hear is the Muzak playing. Oh oh, gotta run, I see Nurse Ratched approaching!