# Professor Arun Sundararajan explains how Airbnb's popularity with teachers helps foster a sense of authenticity for the platform

1 Faculty News August 17, 2018 ![The Atlantic logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_031336.jpg?itok=T4ciY3Gl)>

Excerpt from [The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/08/teachers-in-the-sharing-economy/567772/) -- "'Highlighting the number of workers who are teachers can be a particularly effective way of advancing that narrative.' It helps humanize the companies. It emphasizes the message that these are safe alternatives to regular cabs and hotels—as [Sundararajan](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/arun-sundararajan) puts it, 'If society trusts this person with our children, then I feel more comfortable sleeping in their bedroom.'"

[Read more](https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/08/teachers-in-the-sharing-economy/567772/)