Paradise lost: The rise and ruin of Couchsurfing.com

I think hosts learned to post very clearly if they were not looking for dates. That way potential guests would not misunderstand acceptance (for a place to stay) as also being a potential for romance. I saw plenty of host profiles that were very clear on their disinterest in romance. I did not see any profiles that said "looking for dates", as I'm sure that would not have worked out well... imagine the emailed photos they would receive...

But in her case, she was super alpha female (gay), and I _think_ she had an eye for people who would be receptive to that. But she was also very cool, so I'm sure if she didn't get the right vibe she wouldn't push something that would become awkward.

From my background, I wouldn't have advised single women to host men. But two of the people who hosted me were single women, so I guess they were just more comfortable (or perhaps Swiss people are less accustomed to bad behaviors?

I have been pretty heavily involved with couchsurfing for years to the extent that I barely spend time with anybody who I did not directly or indirectly meet through couchsurfing. The well-traveled curious misfit persona I associate with the network works great for me. I have met the most curious personalities, forged strong relationships with people in other parts of the world, and I think I have experienced more good-will and generosity than most people ever will.

It really seemed couchsurfing.com became a victim of it's on success beyond whatever happened behind the stage. Over the years the number of popular articles that "advertised" it as a way to either have sex or just a free place to crash has brought attention that was detrimental to the experience. The number of stupid "hey bro, me and my buddy need a place to crash" requests went up significantly. This is what happens with any community.

But the important thing is that couchsurfing.com is just a website, it does not even matter so much. There are millions of people out there who are adventurous and out to meet people and those have not gone away. Couchsurfing meetups still happen. Couchcrashes (big long get-togethers in random cities of the world explcitly affiliated with couchsurfing.com) still happen. Airbnb is easier, but couchsurfing to a large extent was not about a place to stay - it is about connecting with the place you went to and people who lived there. (A good example of what doors couchsurfing might open seems to be "Couchsurfing in Iran: Revealing a Hidden World", but it's still on my to-read list) Back in the day you could always break that connect-with-people contract to a certain extent and it was not unwelcome, but as more people flooded the platform it became a much rarer paradigm.

Whatever happens I hope the word couchsurfing gets decoupled from the the website. I still travel and hop hostels and the target audience of couchsurfing has never ceased to exist. With more remote work it has perhaps grown? What has happened to couchsurfing.com happens to any online community. Growth entails erosion of value. Partly, why I am actually not apposed to light gate-keeping of a paywall. In any case, I welcome the next stage. And I am glad the article ends on a list of lesser-known alternatives (contributors to some of which commented in this thread!). Couchsurfing is not couchsurfing.com and it is not dead it is just looking for new forms.

The old Accidental Black Mirror.

Causing trouble is work, of sorts.

But perhaps it would be clearer if restated as, "50% of impact in a domain can be attributed to square root the number of people in that domain".

That's what ruined it for me. Some time after AirBnB started, no one wanted to host my girlfriend and me as a pair. It seemed like all the people who just wanted to host travelers left for AirBnB and only the hookup-seekers remained.