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