@Robin4 @Alon1 @Cath29 @Jackie93
Rob and Al... you guys both know how long I've been writing about Airbnb's reviews/ratings/SH system being an abusive, exploitative, manipulative behaviour modification tool, (cooked up by a man who penned a book called "The Culting of Brands" - if that's not a roaring red flag, I don't know what is!), in conjunction with being a colossal data heist (data is now the world's most valuable resource - the oil of the digital era)
Even after all these years, and despite hundreds of thousands of impassioned (and ignored) pleas from bamboozled hosts searching for answers, there is still absolutely no clarity or transparency whatsoever around the system - hence the endless, endless deluge of threads here in the CC and across all social media, from hosts stressing, obsessing and agonising on the subject... and yet, still nobody has the first idea how it really works, or is supposed to work, even now.
Don't you see how utterly preposterous that is, and understand that this is exactly the way Airbnb has designed the system to be?? (Otherwise, they'd have simplified and clarified it years ago, wouldn't they?) But as long as everyone is so completely wrapped up in their obsession with reviews and star ratings, their attention will be conveniently diverted from all the real sh*t that's going on with this company. Just like its supposed to be.
But instead of pushing back and flatly refusing to buy into such an oppressive, f*cked-up system, hosts have instead (inexplicably, to my mind) tied themselves in knots trying to find ways to jump through Airbnb's ridiculous hoops, and come up with ever-more ludicrous ways of playing their game - this "education" of guests on the review system being a prime example.
I get that hosts (very mistakenly) feel that it's the only way, and they've become so beaten down by theoverwhelming preoccupation with glittering 5 star ratings, that they're willing to debase themselves and in some cases, even allow themselves to be abused and mistreated by guests in the craven, misguided pursuit of the utterly worthless superhost status. What they don't seem to grasp, however, is that the more hosts allow themselves to be controlled by the fear of less-than-perfect ratings (ie 4 stars in the parallel universe of Airbnb), the more punitive, abusive and exploitative the system has become.
So evidently, all this "guest education" really isn't having the desired effect, and by playing their game, hosts are enabling and facilitating Airbnb (and unscrupulous guests) to become ever more controlling and manipulative, and to sh*t on them from an even greater height. I really don't understand how that's not as clear as day to everyone at this point.
And if it's true that all this angst and "education" relating to reviews is really so necessary, how can it possibly be that I - as a host who never, ever broaches the subject of reviews with my guests, never looks at my star ratings and to be honest, rarely even reads my own reviews anymore - am about to become one of a very small number of hosts worldwide, who has achieved superhost for the 22nd time - every single time since the programme was first implemented 5 and a half years ago?
My theory is that it's because, rather than spending my time trying to figure out how best to coerce/cajole/beg guests for 5 star ratings, I fully concentrate my efforts on making sure they have the very best experience and the most memorable time possible at my place, and then I leave them in peace to review (or not review) me, as they see fit. Works for me, and at least I can be happy in the knowledge that whatever guests do choose to write in their reviews of me, my home and my hospitality, is a genuine and authentic reflection of their feelings, rather than something they felt obliged to write, or guilt-tripped into leaving.
If hosts had put even a tiny fraction of the time and efforts they've put into buying into the review hysteria and coming up with silly "workarounds" all these years, into fighting back against the system and telling Airbnb to shove their ratings and shambolic SH status where the sun don't shine, then maybe - just maybe - we wouldn't all be up sh*t creek without a paddle now.
