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The Death of Couchsurfing?

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Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#221

Post by em-bee »

bacon_waffle wrote: post #104
em-bee wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

relying on the reputation system to filter out bad guests means that new members have no chance to join. hosts will be overwhelmed with requests. many guests will be freeloaders who would be better served with airbnb. for the site to work, the influx of new members needd to be small enough so that the community csn handle it. word of mouth is the only way to make sure that new members can get a reference before their…

Like the poster you're responding to, I haven't used couchsurfing in a few years - left due to life changes, and being annoyed by earlier stages of the commercialization that the article talks about. But, prior to that I semi-regularly hosted and used it in my own travels a couple times, over maybe 8 or 9 years and a few countries. It worked very much as described in that post, and didn't seem to have the problems li…

you are right, i am describing a hypothetical situation where couchsurfing becomes mainstream. it works now, but will it still work when there are 10 or 100 times as many couchsurfers?

i should have pointed out that i am speculating.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#222

Post by ashtonkem »

alentist wrote: post #102
ashtonkem wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s focusing on AirBnB’s effect on the hotel industry, but I’m more concerned about AirBnB’s effect on the rent market. This is a subject that’s been pretty well covered here before.

I don’t think you read the link before downvoting it. It’s about the effect on the hotel industry as well as consumers and hosts. You also haven’t provided any evidence to back up your claim. I’d be curious to read it, if it exists.

I absolutely read your link, it was talking about hotel consumers. But I was never concerned about hotel consumers; I was concerned about the effects on everyone else.

Studies into various markets have shown that AirBnB increases rent for residents by converting long term rentals to short term rentals, reducing housing supply. The question is whether or not the increased tourism offsets the damage caused to the housing market. Studies point towards the answer being “no”.

Source: https://www.epi.org/files/pdf/157766.pdf

This is not an out there theory on my part; the name for this is the “AirBnB effect”, and searching for that shows articles in Forbes, EPI (linked), the Guardian, The Harvard Business Review, among others.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#223

Post by teddyh »

pelario wrote: post #180
namdnay wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had some really good experiences on couchsurfing (hosting and surfing) about 10 years ago, then I moved to a very touristic part of the world, and started getting 90% of requests from couples who were basically looking to get free accommodation for their holidays. I accepted the first 3 times, and each time they would arrive in the evening, unpack, drive to a restaurant they had already booked, come back to sleep a…

A key technique to avoid those situations was the "poisoned pill": buried in your profile there is some keyword they must include in their request. With that (which I copied once I was reading a full descriptive profile) you get a great filter. I have done a good share of CS, both as host and guest, over the last ~10 years, having either good or amazing experiences.

That’s a “brown M&M”, not a “poison pill”.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#225

Post by hombre_fatal »

globular-toast wrote: post #202
namdnay wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's about the power dynamic. You're talking about someone who isn't from the area, who doesn't know anyone nearby, and who is supposed to sleep at your place. If you are aggressively flirting with them, they may be forced into the impression that either they sleep with you or they sleep on the street. And that would definitely be assault

They are women who have chosen to stay at a male stranger's house. Do you think women are completely naïve about how the world works? I've known two women who couch surf and it was de rigueur to have sex with their hosts.

Lately, there's a weird trend of the Victorian idea that women have no agency, can't think for themselves, and it's up to us to protect those poor little things.

Though the person you did respond to did scope their concern to "aggressively flirting" while communicating to a woman that she has to fuck you or get tossed to the street which is obviously not what people mean any time they mention "hitting on women".

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#226

Post by hombre_fatal »

cpach wrote: post #147
eanzenberg wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Guys hitting on girls is sexual assault now?

No. But if you host on CS in order to make advances towards women, that is creepy behavior and not what the site is intended for. If you want to get laid, use Tinder etc. instead.

I couchsurfed throughout my 20s and it wasn't uncommon to hook up with the host/guest if they were cool. Any app that's geared toward meeting people is going to be like that, regardless of one's puritan views. That's exactly part of the human connection that the site is intended for, like it or not.

It's no less of a potential hookup app for women as it is for men. You don't think women want to me interesting guys to fuck? Else women wouldn't even stay with men. They already avoid the guys with bad reviews.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#228

Post by netjiro »

I've had great experiences from couchsurfing. Hosting, surfing, and events. I've met several close friends through couchsurfing.

I've heard about the negative experiences people have had, but never from direct source, always someone heard about someone. I have no clue about the actual numbers.

The community died off with the mismanagement, but also shrunk from the rise of airbnb and meetup.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#229

Post by hombre_fatal »

globular-toast wrote: post #215
galoisgirl wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's not, let the guy just say on his profile that he's looking for something more, and see who comes along.

Come to think of it why don't men just walk around town with a big sign saying "SEX WANTED" on it? I can't believe nobody has thought of this before.

I have to wonder how much of this thread is just stereotypically sheltered programmers not realizing that you can have consensual sex without any rigmarole, and that many women are actually looking for it if you're a cool guy that they like, even if they pick you as the house they want to sleep in while traveling, which in my experience often involves some beers with the host.

One clue is that it's just focused on men flirting with women that's inappropriate here.

All I can gather is that some HNers need to find a new way to low-key flirt with people that doesn't make them(self) think "oh, this must be sexual harassment, this is bad".

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#230

Post by lotsofpulp »

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #217
FartyMcFarter wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's harder to pretend you're a human in physical form than in digital form?

Furthermore, there's more law enforcement on physical crimes than digital crimes.

In some ways. In other ways, everything on a computer can and might be recorded so it’s prudent to stay away from borderline illegal or inappropriate things if it can come back to you.
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