Couchsurfing

Ok, I will confess that I was super nervous filling out the information for my profile on couchsurfing. My username is amybedot if you are looking for me there. It does take a while to fill out all of the information for our profile, but it does make sense why in the end.

This is a very different kind of social networking site. Your goal is to meet face-to-face for some reason - coffee, beverage, over-night visit, sight seeing, etc. Most social networking sites do not aim for face-to-face meetings. They go the other direction. On Facebook, you meet someone in person, connect with them on Facebook and stay in touch that way. On CouchSurfing, you join, connect with complete strangers and arrange a face-to-face meeting.

Not sure why I was nervous to tell you the truth. I have met many strangers on my travels and slept on their couch or floor for the night. I have gone over to people's house just to meet them for coffee or a beverage. At least this method gives you a face-saving way to say no if you get strange vibes from them.

What I found interesting is the use of references. It's like you are writing reviews for someone like they are a product on Amazon.com. The ratings system works a lot like the ratings on ebay. Former visitors or people trying to get in touch with you can alter your overall rating to warn people about you. (Though it does seem difficult to post negative comments just looking at the path you have to take.)

I did join a group, in fact a rather large one called NC Triad. There are 131 members of this club in my county. The group page had lots of requests and events posted. It looks very active. They were organizing camping trips to share a campsite in the mountains, going to music festivals looking for rides and hosting events in their houses. It's like the virtual version of the ride-share board like they had in college!

What does it do that other social networking and Web 2.0 tools do not? It encourages face-to-face interaction among its members. It wants to know how much you know about someone and your level of trust. It wants people with high ratings, that people trust, who answer their emails and give suggestions. It's much more aggressive in asking for donations than other sites. They go an extra step to verify your information by mailing you a postcard to verify your address. That's impressive. Facebook has never mailed me anything.

Will I keep this account open once class is over? Not sure. I might wait until I have an interaction or two first and then judge.