Talk:CouchSurfing

dating site
The criticism about cs being a dating site it is totally out of scope. This happens on all social sites. And it does happen on HospitalityClub too for instance. See "Dating: some people really mistake the club for a flirting/partner finding platform." at http://secure.hospitalityclub.org/hc/stopspam.php?x=1 or http://www.hospitalityclub.org/hc/forum.php?action=DisplayMessage&StartMessageId=29758 or http://www.hospitalityclub.org/hc/forum.php?action=DisplayMessage&StartMessageId=53763

I would remove the criticism altogether or I would suggest to add it to all the social sites that expose a photo: flickr.com, ebay.com, amazon.com, ...
 * Well, I sort of agree. Maybe there is some other quote that is more adequate? Guaka 17:05, 27 April 2006 (UTC)
 * The thing is, it's probably the biggest problem on CS (discussed periodically in Amb group), and it differs from other sites in that (a) it's thin ice because we want to keep CS censorship free, and (b) any conception of "dating" people encroaching substantially on CS could seriously hurt. I don't know if I'd call it a "criticism" or if it's really worth pointing out on WP though -- my vote is remove it entirely. As a compromise I reworded and added both sides of the debate (to show that it's not some huge one-sided problem that CS is constantly fighting). Doze 14:57, 09 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Good job Doze. I agree that calling the section 'criticism' is somehow misleading. I'd remove the whole section or at least rename it. -- Splette [[Image:Happyjoe.jpg]] Talk 14:23, 9 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Maybe it's possible to somehow get some more serious statistics about "spam" and "dating spam" on CS. I guess it's very low...
 * Also, isn't there a policy to remove recurrent spammers? That could be worth mentioning. Guaka 22:57, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

1. Couchsurfing makes a big deal out of saying it is not a dating site. The founder 'used' it as a dating site (he met his wife through CS). FB, ebay, amazon, twitter, etc don't claim to be or not be dating sites. So it makes sense to have a Dating Site heading for CS without needing the same heading for all social websites.

2. Comments about CS being or not being a dating site are observations and opinions, not criticisms, unless your point of view is that online dating is a bad thing. The criticism is that CS claims not to be something that it is, or pretends to be immune from common online social interactions. 83.110.240.216 (talk) 12:42, 14 May 2017 (UTC)

Say it ain't so, Casey
I wonder about this: "CouchSurfing as we knew it doesn't exist anymore." Does this mean that it is now existing in *some new form*? Such as in www.couchsurfing.net, which looks like a replacement site (or maybe it's just a knock-off ...)?

Hopeful. --Chickensoda 05:44, 30 June 2006 (UTC)


 * It its just a knock-off. No, it seems like this is it... unfortunately. :-( -- Splette [[Image:Happyjoe.jpg]] Talk 06:42, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
 * No this was not the end. We will start again. Like Casey says, everyone has the Flame inside him. And what happens when many Flames come together? A big fire. Look at: http://groups.google.com/group/Couchsurfing-Phoenix - 194.7.156.55 09:29, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

I want to know the reason for using the word allegedly. Does the user think that Casey Fenton is bluffing? --Anderssr 18:53, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

I didn't write that sentence (using "alleged") so I don't know, but there seems to be a lot of evidence emerging that using the term "fatal" to describe the error, while perhaps technically correct, carries misleading connotations to many. If it's a fatal error that seems to imply that CS (or at least the CS database) is dead, gone, and not coming back. The email discussions that have happened today, though, seem to suggest that CS is probably not permanently dead, and even the databse is not really fully dead. Also, "alleged" doesn't mean the writer thinks Casey is lying or bluffing or even wrong! It just means that the person who wrote that sentence can't personally vouch for whether the error was fatal or not. --Chickensoda 21:28, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

I added a link to Casey asking on an MySQL how to recover from a "DROP DATABASE" command. If someone would have said (or mailed) that to me I wouldn't have believed it. I can also remember something about a crashed harddrive, though no mention of that in the MySQL forum. And the original CS=dead message is gone from couchsurfing.com. Guaka 19:49, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Until they give a detailed statement of what really happened (which they promised to issue by the end of the week) we can only speculate. From what I understood they were *a bit* embarassed to admit that they deleted the database by mistake and instead vaguely spoke about an avoidable crash. However, thats ok with me. Because they implied that it was their fault and didn't try to blame it on someone else. So, in the end what difference does it make if someone crashed the harddisk by dropping a bottle of beer on the computer (yep, I managed to do this once - killed the motherboard) or by accidently performing a drop command and delete the database. It was a human error, that happens... -- Splette [[Image:Happyjoe.jpg]] Talk 22:32, 4 July 2006 (UTC)


 * All history now, thankfully - the site's up and running again, with some changes in process - nothing too major from what I've seen, except that the whole process of recovering the site seems to have drawn the community together more. --Singkong2005 talk 06:43, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Citations need to be reworked
There is a mixed citation method which causes headache, and non-standard use of the note tag coupled with the ref tag makes it difficult to work with. the citeweb template should be used on all references to format them properly, and they can be given a unique tag for multiple use with that, then use the reflist template to create the references list.--Crossmr (talk) 20:25, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Hi, did you remove the references because of their formatting or because the reference itself was a poor source? -- Splette :) How's my driving? 20:49, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I removed the sources which didn't meet WP:V.--Crossmr (talk) 04:15, 21 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Heroeswithmetaphors (talk) 12:17, 22 April 2010 (UTC) Headache is fixed. Here are the orphaned refs. We can format them correctly and put each back in the article after a datum to cite:


 * Heesakkers, P.J.A (2008). The CouchSurfing Project; Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch at a time. An Explorative Study on the Phenomenon of CouchSurfing. NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences
 * Policy FAQs at CouchSurfing.org
 * Wanderlust 5
 * DNS registry information about couchsurfing.org at WHOIS.
 * Expired Alaska business license for "Casey Fenton Consulting"
 * CouchSurfing Donate page
 * CouchSurfing Finances
 * CouchSurfing Project Team Founding
 * New Hampshire Web site showing CouchSurfing International is a Non-Profit Corporation
 * CouchSurfing disclosing member support after the crash
 * Surf this couch; A new web site introduces you to people who want you to crash at their place Couches all over the world are out there waiting just for you Toronto Star February 17, 2004, by Keith Beaty & Emily Mathieu
 * Demain, je dors chez un inconnu à Annotto Bay Liberation 25/03/2004 à 23h56 by Besse DesMoulieres Raphaëlle
 * Short of cash and need a free place to flop? Try couch surfing Los Angeles Times August 1, 2004, by James Gilden
 * Surf a couch and see the world Chicago Tribune Aug 29, 2004, by James Gilden
 * Couch potatoes unite Sydney Morning Hearld September 15, 2004, by Ben Wyld and Bonnie Malkin
 * The couch connection; A web site introduces travelers to locals who offer a place to stay and a new perspective on a destination Orlando Sentinel September 20, 2004, by Aline Mendelsohn
 * Couch Surfing ABC National Radio on Life Matters, 5 November 2004, with Julie McCrossin
 * CouchSurfing featured on Nightline

Abuse and crime discussion
The following below was added by 87.208.5.192 (talk), but needs verification, refs, and a total rewrite before it can be integrated into the article. As it is, it's unsubstantiated personal research and opinion. -kslays (talk • contribs) 17:51, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

Read below: this paragraph is the result of many many years of heart-breaking experiences of many members of CS and Westeuropeans in general, the aim of this paragraph is to avoid people having pain and loss of money. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.208.5.192 (talk) 17:39, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Cases of abuse
It is a fact that female members (and even male members) of CS have to be careful when contacting male members from certain countries. Citizens with passports from a large number of countries are not granted access easily into Europe or North America: it is very difficult for many nationalities to obtain a visa for the latter parts of the world. Many men on CS are out to charm female members from Western countries and will pretend to have feelings for them only in order to obtain luxury goods, visa, money, free travel, college abroad. The global rule applies: the best charmers are the best cheaters: a long row of positive references does not necessarily mean that that member is trustworthy in all senses.

This is not unfounded but based on many, many experiences of members thatI know personally and of myself. And actually one should consider "ignorant" the one that does not know this and the information could be regarded therefore as totally superfluous, but, still, it is good to warn those that never had any contact with people from "certain" countries before@! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.208.5.192 (talk) 17:38, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

While I certainly think any dangers should be highlighted, this paragraph at the same time sticks out as something not easily verifiable, and with many sweeping generalisations, in an article that is otherwise quite well written. If you add a verifiable source (unfortunately, your own / friends experience does not count as a verifiable source under wikipedia guidelines) then we can go ahead and include it. For example, "certain countries" -> which countries?, "Many men" -> How many? From where? etc. So for now, I'll remove the paragraph again, pending agreement. I'm doing this in good faith, and am happy to discuss this further. 211.168.250.100 (talk) 14:39, 2 February 2010 (UTC)
 * That's right. The paragraph is original research. "the aim of this paragraph is to avoid people having pain and loss of money" That however, is not the aim of an encyclopedia. Please get familiar with some of the policies here. I suggest to start with WP:NOR,WP:NOTHOWTO Thanks  SPLETTE &#32;:]&#32;How's my driving? 17:39, 2 February 2010 (UTC)

I do not agree here. An encyclopedia states that the flowers and leaves of a potato plant are poisonous because it wants to prevent people to die / get sick from eating those parts. "certain countries" means: poor muslem countries (Arabic plus Pakistan) and African countries. If you want to write this, go ahead, but people will cut your head off. Take a look at the CS profiles of e.g. "Wimbledonian" and "Julia Satsiri" for mere examples. "Hubert Michael Russ" has many similar bad negative experiences in Arab countries. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.208.5.192 (talk) 23:45, 2 February 2010 (UTC)
 * You are completely missing the point. Of course, I don't want people to get into trouble. But an encyclopedia is simply the wrong place for such stuff. Did you read WP:NOTHOWTO? Please stick to the rules, thanks  SPLETTE &#32;:]&#32;How's my driving? 19:17, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

removal of content
Hey, @Country20, this is a pretty big removal of content without an edit summary. Can you explain your thinking? Valereee (talk) 21:07, 5 April 2023 (UTC)


 * @Country20 fix ping. Valereee (talk) 21:08, 5 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Country20 (talk) 21:24, 5 April 2023 (UTC)I reverted my entry that added it. I moved it to the Couchsurfing page from the hospitality exchange service page but the other editor added it back so I removed it from the Couchsurfing page
 * Okay. Please start using edit summaries. There are multiple complaints on your talk. Accurate, helpful edit summaries are extremely important. Valereee (talk) 21:59, 5 April 2023 (UTC)