Cyber Cultures

Andrew Brett

16//03//2011

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Online Social Network:

CouchSurfing

Cyberculture Theme:

The dichotomy between real and virtual spaces/worlds and real and virtual selves

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INTRODUCTION

CouchSurfing is an example of a very vibrant Online Social Network. The site

has been in operation since January 2004 and has about two and a half

million members worldwide, about forty thousand of those have joined since

the beginning of this month. The vision statement of the Couch Surfing

Project is to create a global community through the spreading of tolerance

and appreciation of diversity. The tagline which greets users to the website is

“Creating a better world, on couch at a time.”1

CouchSurfing can be most closely categorized as a social networking

site. However, it is one with a twist. The ultimate goal of interaction in this

community is for members to meet each other in real life and share cultural

experience. This is most typically done although not limited to whilst sleeping

rent free, in the home of a person you have have never met in the offline

world.

In terms of cyber culture theory, there is a commonly accepted

dichotomy between the real world and the virtual space of the online

community. Many critics and scholars engage with the theoretical debate

about what constitutes the virtual. For the purpose of this investigation, I

regard the term as being too ambiguous and clouded in connotations. Rather

than engage deeply in debates over the definition of this word I shall quickly

point out that CouchSurfing is not virtual in the sense of a virtual community,

1www.couchsurfing.com,accessed03/03/2011

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which exists as an escape from the real world. The ‘virtual’ aspect of

CouchSurfing, that is its online space, does have effect the ‘real world’. The

term real is used here in reference to physical or offline experience, I do not

wish at this point to engage in debates of what constitutes reality.

Henceforth, I shall be using the terms offline and online to represent the

dichotomy which this paper is investigating. A question underlying this text is

if the term dichotomy is even appropriate to describe the relationship

between these concepts.

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REPRESENTATION OF IDENTITY ONLINE

Identity representation on the site is quite structured in that members are

asked to describe themselves under the guidelines of certain criteria

headings such as interests and CouchSurfing experiences etc. These criteria

then become central to discourse that takes place within the community.

Along with text is the opportunity to create discourse through the display of

photographic images, allowing a much more personal dimension to be added

to the online representation of identity.

An interesting aspect of the identity system in this space is the

reference system whereby after interactions persons then leave one another

a comment along with a reference rating of positive, neutral or negative. An

interesting trait of this culture is that members are not only willing to trust

strangers, but to even go as far as to trust strangers opinions of other

strangers behind these online identities.

Some members can be seen to leave positive reference even when

they are somewhat unwarranted in order to receive a positive reference in

return. The more positive reviews a member has the more likely it is that their

couch requests will be accepted. This can be seen as persons directly

influencing the representation of another’s online identity. Shown below

(Fig.1) is an example of this, although it must be kept in mind, as with any

culture or sign it is down to personal judgment of what to believe and what

not to believe.

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Fig. 1. Unwarranted positive references are a tell tale sign within this culture

Unlike other examples of cyber culture, this site is not subject to many

symptoms of dissociative anonymity, as members are generally keen to

remain in someway true to at least in part their offline identity. There is no

option to communicate in real time. Asynchronous communication is the only

form, which takes place on CouchSurfing. This brings with it a different

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context for people to communicate in and can enhance further the losing of

inhibitions. In the context of CouchSurfing, this can be largely be taken as a

positive as for some it may be quite inhibiting to ask a complete stranger to

allow you to stay at their home in a real time scenario. However it may

contrastingly enhance negative aspects, for example when writing reviews

for other members, exaggerated negative reviews can arise as a result of

asynchronous communication. Kali Murno, an online psychotherapist

describes this as an online hit and run.2 (Fig.2)

2 Http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/disinhibit.html

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Fig.2 Negative comments possibly exaggerated from the safety and distance provided through the cyberculture

The fact that our physical body cannot be seen in the online space

means members need not worry about how they look. Body language,

cleanliness, health and mood can all be easily disguised if a member takes

the time to craft their communication carefully. In this sense, the online

identity can be argued as representing the person at their best. Nothing from

the author is communicated without the authors knowledge and approval.

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The identity defined, despite whatever contents may lie within, can be

theorized as being pure ego.

Information which members place online reflects strongly their

interests in the real world, which is their ultimate reason for using the site. It

is a reasonable assumption to make, that persons do not engage in

CouchSurfing without a desire for it to develop towards real world

experiences. A simple reason for this is most interactions are structurally

geared towards arranged meetings of some description, which shall take

place in the real world. Through the lens of CouchSurfing we can see the

concepts of online and offline as complimentary rather than oppositional.

Members are keen to get to meet and know the physical personalities

through these online identities. Andrea Baker also suggests that the

dichotomy between online and offline identities is false, based on her study

of couples that first met online.3 As Kennedy argues “online identities are

often continuous with offline selves, not reconfigured versions of

subjectivities in real life; for this reason it is necessary to go beyond internet

identities, to look at the offline contexts of online selves, in order to

comprehend virtual life fully.4 The constructed identity of a CouchSurfer

should reflect the surfer’s real identity for optimum experience of the

CouchSurfing community.

3 Lister, Martin and Dovey, John, New Media: a critical introduction, Routledge, Madison Avenue, 2009, p. 216. 4 Lister, Martin and Dovey, John, New Media: a critical introduction, Routledge, Madison Avenue, 2009, p. 217

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However, from personal experience I can recall attempting to transfer my

identity onto this website and on review finding the identity unsatisfactory.

The process of making changes and reviewing the whole profile had many

stages and was finalized more with the satisfaction of acceptance rather than

perfection. Just as a sign can never fully represent its signified, an online

identity can never fully represent your offline self.5

There are some strong differences in the way our identity is shaped in

online communities in comparison to offline, particularly in situations where

third parties have the ability to place an input in the defining of such identities

by numerous means. As such, this should strongly influence our perception

of online identities and indeed online experiences.

5 Chandler, Daniel, Semiotics The Basics, Signs, http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem02.html, accessed 16/03/2011.

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CONNECTING ONLINE AND OFFLINE SPACE

Cyber space, particularly in the examples of CouchSurfing remains

somewhat limiting in terms of how we experience a space. Cyberspace in

general is still two modes shy of what we typically consider full sensory

experience. It lacks the sensory stimulation of taste and smell. Although we

cannot touch cyberspace, we can interact with it via our movements. Sound

is also omitted from CouchSurfing.

Our presence is felt in the online community by features which tell us a

user is ‘Online Now’ or when they were ‘Last Online’. Couch and traveling

status can also be altered which do directly affect others experience of a

persons profile, and in turn the author of the profile is affected. Also to be

considered in this culture is what is known as the invisibility factor6 This

means that persons can view other profiles as extensively at photographs,

descriptions etc. as they like and no one else will be aware of this. This is in

contrast to real space, where prying so deeply into someone’s life, or even

staring intently will surely be noticed and have implications.

What is notable about CouchSurfing is that the cyberspace created

does not seek to create a more convincing or desirable space, but rather a

functional communication tool, which allows for the creation of richer offline

experiences. The culture within this space largely reflects the communities’

main focus, which is to interact within the physical world.

6 http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/disinhibit.html

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For the very most part, the information flows from the offline world to

the site. This information generally leads to action in the real world, which

again leads to the feeding of further information to the site by means of

narratives, reviews and the continuation of interactions with the persons you

have encountered. The two worlds are therefore intertwined in an ongoing

cycle.

Even though CouchSurfing leans towards the offline experience more

than the online, this does not provide grounds to claim that all Online Social

Networking is leaning in this direction. What is important to take from this

text, is how members of this cyberculture have utilized the capabilities of

both spaces to what they deem to be more desirable experiences for the

community overall. (Fig. 3)

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Fig. 3. Using the online space to understand better and improve past and future offline experiences

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CONCLUSION

As we become more literate in our chosen media of communication, we must

always remember Marshal McLuhan’s thesis that the medium is the

message.7 A change of media will always result in a different understanding

of the experience. On this note I believe this paper has shown that the term

dichotomy is indeed used inappropriately to describe the relationships

between the concepts in question.

The contrasting of online and offline experiences does not by

definition constitute the binary opposition which the words that are applied to

these concepts may imply. If we are to speak of these in terms of experience

they are no more binary oppositions than, for example, the experiences of

sign language and brail.

To put it another way we can compare the pairing of these realms to

the pairing of sight and sound. In each of the given scenarios we are

interpreting signs through various sensory stimulation. Different? Yes.

Opposing? No. We may block our eyes and our ears respectively, leading to

the experience two very different worlds; or we can combine them and

ultimately make our overall understanding of the worlds around us more

complete.

7 McLuhan, Marshall, The Medium Is The Message, Ginko Press, Berkley, 2005, p.5.

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In terms of identity this study shows that offline and online identities

can actually compliment each other and add to a more complete rather than

contradictory understanding of the identity of an individual. Much in the same

way as hearing your own voice on tape, or seeing a photograph of someone

you know well but in a different light. Cyberculture and the identities we

create within such cultures can be combined with and considered in relation

to our understanding of our offline cultures and identities. Ultimately this

combination can provide us with a fuller experience and understanding of the

world around us, those who inhabit it and even ourselves.

*****

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Bibliography

Lister, Martin and Dovey, John, New Media: a critical introduction, Routledge, Madison Avenue, 2009

McLuhan, Marshall, The Medium Is The Message, Ginko Press, Berkley, 2005

Nusselder, André Cornelis, Interface Fantasy; A Lacanian Cyborg Ontology, College Voor Promoties, 2006

Papacharissi, Zizi, The Real-Virtual Dichotomy in Online Interaction: New Media Uses and Consequences Revisited, Temple University, 2002

Web

Chandler, Daniel, Semiotics The Basics, Signs, http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem02.html, accessed 16/03/2011

www.couchsurfing.com

http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/disinhibit.html

Illustrations

All illustrations are taken from www.couchsurfing.com