Update: I wrote a whole post about this post and the follow ups to this post.

This is a super sad story. But on the question of liability and responsibility, I’m wondering for those who assume most/much of it should fall on Airbnb would feel different if the house were rented, through, say VRBO. Or Craigslist? Or a newspaper classified ad? Why or why not?

ps — Those images are a bit much. Update:

I was commenting on the images (and I meant just the ones meant to look like the Airbnb homepage) because when a read a draft of this story before it was published I said the same thing to the Matter editors who worked on it (who, clearly, don’t necessarily listen to me) and wanted to share the sentiment publicly.

I actually think they detract from a well-crafted story that raises interesting questions lots of people are clearly interested in. Those questions are nuanced. The imagery is not. Therefore, IMO, “it’s a bit much.”

I think these things matter because most people who come across this story won’t read it. And also because they nudge the tone for those who do from something critical of Airbnb but reasonable to something comically anti.