Does Airbnb Love Barcelona? The Struggle of Platform Capitalism for Gaining Public Opinion-Juniper Publishers
Archaeology & Anthropology- Juniper Publishers
Opinion
Airbnb has made a leap from digital to analog. This
leap has been made in prime time and in one of the most listened radio
stations in Spain. However, what does a company like Airbnb investing in
advertising in a traditional media when it presents always itself as
one of the main stars of the new economy? Moreover, does not know Airbnb
that cannot continue with their activities in the Catalan capital
without worsening its relationship with the City Council, or maybe this
campaign does not go aimed at attracting customers - “host” in the
sharing economy newspeak- but at much more diffuse and less obvious
objective?
Let’s go step by step. The Airbnb’s radio spots
gather all the stereotypes of the platform capitalism [1], that is, good
vibes, cosmopolitanism, taste of the neighborhood, experience, local
cuisine, love and respect for life in the city. The sequence is always
the same: one or several men or women, young voices, sometimes with a
slight foreign accent, are presented as the best ambassadors of
Barcelona. In the background rumba music and, in the foreground, a list
of magnificent intentions and opportunities. For the “guests”, another
element of the Airbnb newspeak: to know, from the hand of a resident of
the city, those aspects and corners that do not appear in the guides, a
contact with the “authentic”, out of the beaten tracks, etc. For the
aforementioned hosts: the possibility to make ends meet through some
extra income, to become ambassadors of their city, to connect with the
rest of the world... In all this, Airbnb practically does not appear on
the scene. All the importance in this festival of cosmopolitanism is for
“hosts” and “guests”, while the Californian company just appears in the
credits as a mere institutional sponsor.
These actions do not respond to a communication
policy aimed at attracting new users or customers. In an almost
monopolistic situation like the one Airbnb enjoys, as well as several
other so-called “collaborative” platforms in different sectors, the main
threats to its business are located outside the sacred perimeter of the
market. If on the one hand, discreet but intense lobbying activities
are accredited in the salons of the legislative power, on the other
hand, it is necessary to convince the public opinion of the model’s
virtues and encourage it to accept possible changes in the regulations
that are favorable to the cause.
To lead citizens to empathize with the champions of
this revolution, the story must be purified of all the conflictive
elements. In this way, the alleged synergies that the so-called home
sharing is able to awaken are magnified. Airbnb always suggests a
win-win situation where nobody loses anything and everyone, in one way
or another, has something to gain, even the mere consolation of
contributing to a better world. In fact, one of the main challenges of
the collaborative rhetoric has been, precisely, to hide behind
collective references -the neighborhood, the community, the neighbors,
the city- the deeply individualistic nature of tourist rental practices.
Besides, the conflict that its popularization entails within the
framework of the conflicting housing market in Barcelona is also hidden.
An ambitious and necessary challenge in order to redress a public
opinion that has seen how the explosion of the Airbnb phenomenon in
recent years has coincided with a stage of intense acceleration and
generation of inequalities by the real estate sector of the city [2].
We could argue over and over about what came first.
If the changes in the demand realized by tourists, that is, the search
for horizons that, finally, were not in distant beaches and
exotic destinations, but in the streets and squares of many of
the popular neighborhoods of the cities. Alternatively, if what
Airbnb supposes is a new circuit, in the form of daily life, by
which Capital can flow always in search of new investments that
guarantee higher returns.
What cannot be doubted is that, when Airbnb shows itself
with its best suit for improving its relationship with the city,
claiming the right of everybody to share the city, what it is really
(pro)claiming is the possibility of its sale. Loving Barcelona is
not to share it with the world, but to de-commodify its social life.
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