dc.contributor.advisor | Ruusalepp, Raivo | |
dc.contributor.author | Tran, Le Dieu | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2011-07-20T15:41:35Z | |
dc.date.available | 2011-07-20T15:41:35Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2009 | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10642/877 | |
dc.description | Joint Master Degree in Digital Library Learning (DILL) | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | The aim of this interpretive study is to acquire a deeper understanding of the concept of
interpersonal trust in an online community, namely, The CouchSurfing Project. CouchSurfing
is an online hospitality network whose purpose is to connect travellers and local hosts offering
free accommodations and more importantly, a chance for cultural exchange. CouchSurfers
complete online profiles that allow other members to search for and make requests for
accommodations based on information on these profiles.
In the discombobulated virtual environment, online personas might not reflect reality. Issues
of trust and the perceived risks associated with CouchSurfing were explored. The concepts of
trust and risk share a close relationship; in order to build trust, it is necessary to minimise the
perceived risks.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 CouchSurfing members and 6 nonmembers.
Non-members were included in this study in order to obtain a perspective that
would be different from those who already prescribe to the CouchSurfing philosophy that is
based on the concept of “paying it forward.”
Both members and non-members acknowledged that there are risks to participating in
CouchSurfing. However, strategies such as control, comparison between risks, possession of
self-confidence and scapegoating seem to help mitigate perceived risks. Moreover, this study
suggests that the community’s social network acts as an informal method of social control to
help foster and sustain trust amongst its members. Thus, it is the human relationships, rather
than technologies that are important in nurturing trust. | en_US |
dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
dc.publisher | Høgskolen i Oslo. Avdeling for journalistikk, bibliotek- og informasjonsvitenskap | en_US |
dc.publisher | Universitetet i Tallinn | en_US |
dc.publisher | Universitetet i Parma | en_US |
dc.subject | Trust | en_US |
dc.subject | Risks | en_US |
dc.subject | Online hospitality networks | en_US |
dc.subject | Couch Surfing | en_US |
dc.subject | Social networks | en_US |
dc.subject | Online trust | en_US |
dc.subject | VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Biblioteks- og informasjonsvitenskap: 320 | en_US |
dc.title | Trust in an online hospitality network : An interpretive study of The CouchSurfing Project | en_US |
dc.type | Master thesis | en_US |