Airbnb and security camera disclosure

Re:Airbnb and security camera disclosure by gnicholas on Wednesday January 16, 2019 @01:38PM (#18923578)

I wonder if the Airbnb team has ever thought about their profit and its relationship to the externalities you describe. As a customer, I've felt like I pay for something and then bear lots of risk if it goes wrong, but the discount often isn't sufficient to cover that risk.

At the end of the day, it may still be a good thing for the temporary housing marketplace if people who want certainty (in general or just for the trip) stay in a hotel, and people who are willing to trade certainty for some savings stay in Airbnbs. This would lower demand for hotels, and therefore cost. But this is only an efficient outcome if Airbnb guests understand how the company will leave them high and dry if something goes wrong.

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Re:Airbnb and security camera disclosure by michaelchisari on Wednesday January 16, 2019 @01:54PM (#18923746)

I wonder if the Airbnb team has ever thought about their profit and its relationship to the externalities you describe

I'm convinced the majority of "unicorns" ignore (or actively dodge) externalities in favor of lucrative profits.

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Re:Airbnb and security camera disclosure by munchbunny on Wednesday January 16, 2019 @02:43PM (#18924290)

I'm convinced the majority of "unicorns" ignore (or actively dodge) externalities in favor of lucrative profits.

I think most companies develop convenient ethical blind spots where profit motive conflicts with the ethical problem from generating externalities.

AirBnB takes a strong moral stand on "inclusion" as a principle but has a clear blind spot when it comes to consumer, property, and residential externalities. Facebook takes a strong moral stand on free speech, but it has a clear blind spot for privacy and public discourse.

Other companies don't necessarily take moral stands, but they still develop convenient blind spots. Youtube (Google) and ideological polarization in its recommendations, Equifax and its lack of cybersecurity measures, and so on.

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Re:Airbnb and security camera disclosure by traek on Wednesday January 16, 2019 @03:33PM (#18924830)

> Facebook takes a strong moral stand on free speech, but it has a clear blind spot for privacy and public discourse.

I think Facebook expressly does not take a stand for free speech, they've been pretty clear about banning offensive/hateful/sexual content from their platform (to the point of being prudish, e.g. with female nipples).

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Re:Airbnb and security camera disclosure by mtnGoat on Wednesday January 16, 2019 @10:50PM (#18928208)

Oddly Instagram seems to allow nipples.

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Re:Airbnb and security camera disclosure by drewbug on Wednesday January 16, 2019 @02:55PM (#18924394)

> Facebook takes a strong moral stand on free speech

It does?

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Re:Airbnb and security camera disclosure by FactolSarin on Wednesday January 16, 2019 @03:49PM (#18925005)

Of course! You're free to post anything they approve of.

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Re:Airbnb and security camera disclosure by gnicholas on Wednesday January 16, 2019 @02:04PM (#18923853)

I know successful companies (and the VCs that back them) look for large market inefficiencies, which create profit opportunity. I wonder if anyone has ever broken down their profit opportunity in terms of: (1) we're taking advantage of this existing inefficiency and (2) we're creating these externalities that we don't bear the cost of.

Some investors would not be dissuaded by (2), if they are purely looking for financial returns. In fact, if you could make a compelling argument that you're externalizing some of your costs, it could be attractive to financial investors because it would help prove that your business model can be profitable.

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