That's not true. We take reputation extremely seriously. Unlike traditional listing sites, every review is tied to a financial transaction. Additionally, we have many other mechanisms in place to prevent astroturfing.
I tend to disagree about short-term renters not looking after the place. As an Airbnb host I find that most of my guests leave the place cleaner than when I left it. I imagine this is because a) they are cognizant that it is the property of another person b) there is a reputation attached with their stay. I also have peace of mind that if the place gets trashed it will be covered by the million dollar guarantee.
I've been a host since I joined Airbnb as an engineer two years ago. During my interview I had an "AHA!" moment when I saw a letter pinned on the wall. It was from someone affected by the financial crisis who had been able to avoid foreclosure by renting their place on Airbnb. The letter expressed unending gratitude for how Airbnb had helped her through the most difficult time of her life. It completely changed how I thought about the company and ultimately led me to join.
Since then I've realized that the positive impact goes far deeper. For example, as a host I tell every guest about my favorite local establishments. Not only am I exposing my guests to true San Francisco flavor, I'm also helping local businesses that don't traditionally see tourism dollars.
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't hear about how we've helped someone, both travelers and hosts.
Staying on Airbnb is really quite different than crashing somewhere on Craigslist.
Airbnb:
- has a fair reputation system with real user reviews
- handles all payments
- withholds payment to the host until 24 hours after your stay begins
- has 24 hour customer service line to help
With Craigslist:
- there's no reputation system
- you have to coordinate payments directly with an unknown 3rd party
- there's no one you can call
I haven't even gone into the differences in how Airbnb facilitates your search for accommodations. Airbnb and Craigslist are fundamentally different services.
I really believe that Airbnb is far safer than VRBO. With VRBO you are exchanging personal information and money directly with an unknown 3rd party. In contrast, Airbnb has a trusted reputation system and handles all payments (i.e., both guest and host have verified financial accounts in order for money to be transfered). Airbnb even witholds payment to the host until 24 hours after you check-in, giving you time to contact customer service if you're not getting what you signed-up for.
agreed... while I don't condone malicious attempts to throw off other teams, being able to filter through false info seems like an important component of the competition
I made a similar plunge several years ago. My best advice is to look for a position in a research group that does both wet-lab experiments and computation. They may be very interested in your web background.
With Foursquare, I often find myself wanting to be the mayor of my neighborhood, since I've had up to 5 mayorships in a 1 mile radius (a small distance in Los Angeles). GraffitiGeo seems to be addressing this.