Inducciones con Nitrógeno

Amongst both groups of respondents, almost all of those interviewed had quite a bit of trust in the information provided in the online profiles. Most believed that information composed by CouchSurfers about themselves cannot be completely trusted but felt that there is no purpose for CouchSurfers to lie about themselves in their profiles. Hence, the presence of mechanisms such as references, vouched and/or verified statuses help increase feelings of trust, as discussed in section 4.3. For example, when asked about the extent of trust in the CouchSurfing profile information, this respondent explained:

I'd say more or less, in cases where users are vouched and verified, and have reviews and connections and such...in these cases (and particularly for the people who stress that they wish prospective visitors to read their profile and say why they might get along), the user has something to gain by being themselves, and something to lose if they're not. sure, they might fail to mention stuff like "snores like a bulldozer", but it seems to me they have a stake in presenting themselves as they hope they are

CS non-member #5 The idea of the prospect of a future face-to-face meeting was also brought up by some of the respondents. They felt that since there is also interaction in the offline environment, discrepancies between the online persona and the person in reality would be revealed via the references in the profiles. As well, as the following respondent explained, since CouchSurfing is an open community, providing feedback is not a hard thing to do:

i believe that if you want to surf and host (btw, this is something that i check - that my guests/hosts have done both, and preferably also participated other cs happenings (this you can see on the friends list), it is best to give true information about yourself)). since it is an open community, it is easy to give feedback about one, and then the word spreads if the profile doesn't match with the real life

…and why would people lye[sic] in their profiles?

The feeling of naivety was also mentioned by a couple of the members to explain their extent of trust in the information in the profiles:

I'm a bit too naive I guess. I normally believe in what people put on their profile on CS. I had this idea of lying because in Brasil the most popular network - "Orkut", from google, there's 10000000s of fake profiles that people do just for fun or to stalk other people. Since CS is more related to a real human touch maybe ppl dont lie that much :D Also, even though the ref system might be biased, it really helps to check if ppl are ok or not.

CS member #1 hmmm....im a sucker :) but really, i trust it a lot, when i come across a profile that in my opinion is real and safe (pics, positive reviews, descriptions, vouched for icons, etc.).

CS member #3 When asked where these feelings of trust come from, the member replied:

hmmm...a philosophical question...i think u have to be a special brand of a person...like u have to believe that ppl r generally good, u have to be very open minded, and above all positive, and maybe even a little naive...and u have to be adventurous, because ur curiosity must conquer or shadow the fear of the unknown...

CS member #3 Interestingly, when the non-members were asked about their extent of trust in the information provided in the profiles, the general consensus was “quite a bit” but a few had some reservations about entirely trusting the information they saw online. The explanations for why they did not see the point of lying on a profile were: a) they would not do it themselves so why would others? b) there is nothing to gain by lying and c) others will find out via the references. As a few of the respondents explained:

On this one I'd have to say more or less leaning on the quite a bit side. Why? Hmmm, I'm not so sure. Maybe because if I were posting my profile I wouldn't feel a need to lie so why would other people. Of course people can choose what they want to write about themselves since they are really selling themselves to potential hosts, surfers and friends... so you're going to write about what you think people will find good or cool, not what you think they'll find bad or lame. So I don't think it's a matter of not trusting the information there, but rather being unsure of what the experience of having a stranger sleep on my couch or vice versa would be. And how honest and respectful they would be in real life once you met them.

quite a bit. i guess i feel that someone wouldnt bother spending the time filling out a profile if it wasnt truthful.

CS non-member #1

i dont see what's the point of not keeping truthful info, if not trying to cheat.…but they havent really anything that they could win on by cheating here

CS non-member #4 …this is not really an enterprise for profit, well for hopefully a couch in another country, but i do not see why people would lie outrageously in this, what is to gain from it? Would they not be "outed" in the references? i am sure people paint themselves favourably. i think because I know it is for one or two nights at the most, and i can leave if i find it horrible

CS non-member #3 I mean, it's not like it's an internet site where you might have all sorts of online interactions but no face-to-face meetings...if your profile and your behavior don't match up at all, there's a good chance that people will call you on it in their reviews, I'd imagine

of course, if we're talking about people with fewer ties to other users, there might be more to gain by lying...but I think the vouching and the verification system seem designed to discourage extreme dishonesty in the way you present yourself

CS non-member #5 In summary, it appears that the respondents perceived that there is not much incentive for CouchSurfers to outrageously lie about themselves if they would like to continue to successfully participate in the community. Furthermore, the knowledge that there might be a physical encounter after the online interaction seems to act as a disincentive towards people being dishonest about themselves on their profiles. Granted, CouchSurfers may not mention that they “snore like a bulldozer” as one respondent explained, but most of the respondents seemed to believe that CouchSurfers do not have much to gain by making exaggerated claims about themselves. Consequently, these were the reasons why there seemed to have been quite a bit of trust in the information provided in the online profiles both amongst members as well as non-members.