Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:03:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo1069_1.pdf: 2401686 bytes, checksum: d68bc7e7d5d4b44efa31cde0f040397d (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O Couchsurfing Project, fundado em 2004, constitui-se em uma rede mundial de viajantes cuja proposta de viagem diferenciada tem atraído adeptos em 231 países. O Projeto de Surfe por Sofás parte da idéia de que as pessoas, hospedando-se na casa umas das outras, mantém um contato mais profundo com outras culturas o que facilita o intercâmbio de conhecimentos, a consciência coletiva e a compreensão entre os povos, segundo conteúdo principal de seu site. Objetivando compreender por que um número crescente de pessoas em todo o mundo tem buscado tais formas de contato, sobre o quê está pautado o sistema de troca entre hóspedes e anfitriões, e que visões de mundo têm sido forjadas a partir de tal experiência, foram desenvolvidas reflexões teóricas acerca da dádiva, da tolerância e do imaginário das viagens, além de uma pesquisa etnográfica que contou com a inscrição desta autora no grupo, visto inclusive que os espaços de maior interlocução virtual se estabelecem em áreas restritas apenas aos associados. Além de viajantes internacionais e nacionais, em especial os de Recife, foi estabelecido um contato direto com os voluntários administradores e embaixadores responsáveis por difundir o conceito do grupo. Os temas fundamentais identificados ao longo da pesquisa foram: a troca e a reciprocidade; a tolerância, a amizade e o encontro; o viajante, a descoberta e o conhecimento. As identidades aqui construídas permeiam territórios transnacionais e põem em constante movimento a cultura. O CS, em certa medida, tem provocado um fluxo global em que as trocas são medidas pela moeda do acolhimento, fortalecendo a construção de identidades transculturais e fomentando a compreensão e o diálogo entre pessoas de diferentes culturas. Fomenta também um novo olhar reflexivo sobre si e suas raízes. Este trabalho dissertativo busca promover ainda uma reflexão junto à comunidade acadêmica acerca destes novos espaços de interlocução estabelecidos a partir de laços de confiança, dádiva, amizade, conflito e tolerância

[pt] Este estudo parte do princípio de que o exercício projetual pode ter como fim a resolução de problemas sociais complexos e também servir como ferramenta à disseminação de práticas cidadãs, através do desenvolvimento de plataformas que suportem e encorajem estas ações. Este estudo parte do princípio ainda de que as possibilidades colaborativas viabilizadas pelas novas Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TIC s) podem ser aliadas a estas finalidades. Neste sentido, esta dissertação de mestrado se ocupa do estudo de projetos de suporte ao que chama de novas práticas colaborativas cidadãs; ou seja, ações colaborativas voluntárias e cidadãs, viabilizadas pelas novas Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação. / [en] This study assumes that the projectual exercise may be aimed at solving complex social problems and also serve as tool for dissemination of citizen practices by developing platforms that support and encourage these actions. This study also assumes that the collaborative opportunities made possible by the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT s) can be combined with these purposes. Therefore, this dissertation deals with the study about support projects to what it calls new citizen collaborative practices, in other words, citizen and voluntary collaborative actions, enabled by the new Information and Communication Technologies.

Hospitality exchange (HospEx) networks – online platforms facilitating the connection between a traveler and a local resident – embody many of the cyber-utopian promises intrinsic to the Web as it started out 25 years ago. Such sites have often been conceptualized as a new and daring trend in a booming ‘sharing industry’ and have been researched for topics such as trust, reputation, and online identities. Yet, a more critical look uncovers that crucial issues of ownership, power, digital labour, and organizational structures have often been left out. To fill this gap, this thesis investigates upon the antagonistic struggle between the commons and processes of commodification in the light of critical theory and political economy. The research shows that examples with characteristics of both concepts are manifested in the niche social networking space of HospEx platforms. The biggest of those platforms, Couchsurfing.org, changed its organizational orientation from a non-profit, commons-based project towards a for-profit company in 2011 – an instance of commodification. An analysis of both quantitative and qualitative community data shows that the transformation consequently concerns a member on multiple levels. The structural change of ownership results in a loss of transparency and privacy, an alteration of the platform’s integrity, a sacrifice of the ‘uniqueness’ of the community, and a differing relationship between the user and the platform. To shed light on an antagonistic force and suggest an alternative, community-based governance approach, the work further explores the specifics of a platform guided by the logic of the commons. Interviews with volunteers of the non-commercial, non-profit HospEx platform BeWelcome.org helped to deepen an understanding of how a digital commons can be sustained and what challenges they face. The thesis concludes that the developments observed on Couchsurfing are not an exception but rather characteristic and part of a broader trend manifested in all areas of digital media, and indeed modern society in general: commodification processes frequently jeopardize the commons and incorporate them into the logic of capital.

The aim of the research was to get a better understanding of why one might be a couch surfing host. The focus of this study is the general concept of the Couchsurfing platform which has created the possibility for travelers from all over the world, to offer or to request (or both) hospitality free of charge. As a part of a qualitative study, online interviews were held with six hosts located in different countries around the world. The findings of the data gathered while conducting the research, give an insight of how people choose their potential guests, how they negotiate trust along with what is the that they gain out of sharing the privacy of their homes with ‘strangers’.

The thesis concentrates on the impact of the sharing economy on consumer behavior in tourism. The theoretical part focuses on several approaches towards consumer behavior and the importance of mobile technologies for the growth of the sharing economy. The second part later deals with characterization of the sharing economy, determination of the key players and most importantly researches the impact of this phenomenon on consumer behavior in tourism, especially in the area of accommodation and transportation.

The master thesis focuses on the virtual social network sites which are concern to be exceptionally actual issue. Moreover the thesis deals with social networks in tourism. The number of various social networks about travelling is high. However, only the community of CouchSurfing (hospitality exchange network) was chosen for the research purposes of the thesis. The research included in the thesis focuses on CouchSurfing because is the greatest hospitality exchange site in these days. It includes user from all over the world and community of Czech users as well. The focal point of the research was also on Czech community only. With the aim of approaching the theme gradually the thesis begins with the theoretical framework. The framework is structured into several chapters which include insight to the social networks and alternative tourism from different perspectives. The social theory, the sociological paradigms, the changes in value-system in the society and the technological development of web 2.0 are discussed in the theoretical part. The aim of the thesis research was to compare two different groups of participants of tourism (mainly young people) - the tourists who are not joining the CouchSurfing community and the tourists who are registered. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were...

5 Abstract A significance of platforms based on sharing economy principle in tourism has been continuously increasing. Currently, the most significant phenomenon is Airbnb, which allows residents to offer their homes for tourists. Even though Airbnb still works on basic peer to peer principle of sharing economy, due to uncontrolled development, it has been leading to a diversion from values of sharing economy. Unlike Airbnb, couchsurfing still retains values of sharing economy and promotes sustainable tourism. However, there is not enough data about couchsurfing. For example, this platform does not have any public database, which would outline how many people were accommodated through Couchsurfing in particular destinations. The lack of data about couchsurfing is apparent in the academic sphere as well. The vast majority of studies is focused on sociological themes like motivations of people to use couchsurfing or mutual trust among its users. In the meantime, the spatial behaviour of these tourists has been therefore underestimated. Creation of a database of these tourists on international and Czech national scale including an exploration of spatial behaviour in Czechia is the main aim of this research. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was adopted for this research. The quantitative...

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:18:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Newton de Andrade Branda Junior.pdf: 1742141 bytes, checksum: f38e8fa5c88a31b88abca5bfb7f03f52 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-06-30 / The aim of this research is to analyze the construction that allows a greater prevalence of the integration, acceptance and trust drives (eros) at the CouchSurfing website, which is a digital organization that allows free hosting for people worldwide in the homes of its users. Thus, two psychoanalysis concepts will be used eros and thanatos taking into account their expansion to a regional and current context. These concepts were originally formulated by Sigmund Freud in Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1996) and Civilization and its Discontents (2006). The following pieces will also be used and placed to engage concepts: Paradoxical Logic, presented in the book The Vision Machine (2002), from Paul Virilio; Umwelt, by the German biologist Jakob von Uexküll, from a text by Thure von Uexküll published in Galaxy magazine, # 7 (2004); and Mass, by the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, in In the Shadow of Silent Majorities (2004). As well as the concepts of Collective Intelligence, by Pierre Lévy; The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki; and Emergence, by Steve Johnson, published respectively in books with the same name and finally, Social Logic, by the researcher Alan Zuckerman, in The Social Logic of Politics (2005). Within all these theoretical basis, it will be identified which specific strategies of this community website lead many of its users to enhance the erotic impulse of cooperation, trust and care to the point of opening their homes to host complete strangers. Therefore, an analysis of the community website ways of attraction and operation was made in the sense of identifying which communications logic ultimately generates such trust. Through hypotheses, it is believed that the possibility of disengagement whenever needed is a crucial factor in helping availability. The fact that digital communication allows the expression of the natural instinct for socialization, now constrained by much of the mass media fear prioritization (thanatos) has also been taken into account in this study. Another assumption is that the CouchSurfing enables choice. The user, within his or her personal expectations, defines lasting and relationship intensity options during accommodation. This study relevance is in understanding how some mass communication vehicles mostly encourage fear among one another while the new communication vehicles (the digital media or the new media ) enable the flow of the need for belonging and encourage community collaborative actions. These study findings may offer the possibility of a more critical understanding of communication strategies used by digital media / O objetivo desta pesquisa é analisar qual a construção que permite uma predominância das pulsões de integração, acolhimento e confiança (eros) no website Couchsurfing, organização digital que possibilita a hospedagem gratuita de pessoas no mundo inteiro, nas casas de seus usuários. Para tanto, utilizar-se-á de conceitos da psicanálise eros e tânatos levando em conta a ampliação e contextualização temporal e regional desses conceitos formulados originalmente por Sigmund Freud em Para Além do Princípio do Prazer (1996) e em O Mal-estar na Civilização (2006). Também serão colocados a dialogar os conceitos de Paul Virilio (Lógica Paradoxal) apresentados na obra A Máquina de Visão (2002); Umwelt, do biólogo alemão Jacob von Uexküll, a partir de texto de Thure von Uexküll publicado na revista Galáxia, n. 7 (2004), massa, do filósofo Jean Baudrillard, em À Sombra das Maiorias Silenciosas (2004), e Inteligência Coletiva, de Pierre Lévy, Sabedoria das Multidões, de James Surowiecki, e Emergência, de Steve Johnson, publicados respectivamente em livros com o mesmo nome, ademais de Lógica Social, do pesquisador Alan Zuckerman, em The Social Logic of Politcs (2005). Com essa base teórica, delimitar-se-á quais estratégias específicas desse website comunitário levam muitos de seus usuários a valorizarem a pulsão erótica de colaboração, confiança e acolhimento, chegando a abrirem suas casas para hospedar completos estranhos. Para tanto, far-se-á uma análise dos meios de atração e do funcionamento do website comunitário, identificando quais formas comunicacionais geram tal confiança. Por hipóteses, tem-se que: (a) a garantia do descompromisso, quando oportuno, é fator determinante da disponibilidade em ajudar; e (b) este meio comunicativo digital permite a manifestação da pulsão natural de socialização, restringida por boa parte dos meios de comunicação de massa em sua valorização do medo (tânatos). Outra suposição é a de que o CouchSurfing permite a escolha das opções de relacionamento durante a hospedagem, definidas pelo usuário, dentro de seus anseios pessoais. A relevância desse estudo está no entendimento de como parte dos veículos de comunicação de massa se utilizam marcadamente do incentivo ao medo do outro para manterem-se em evidência, ao passo que novos veículos de comunicação (os digitais) acabam por canalizar a necessidade de pertencimento e ações colaborativas comunitárias. As conclusões desse trabalho poderão oferecer a possibilidade de um maior entendimento crítico sobre as estratégias comunicacionais utilizadas pelas mídias digitais

Submitted by William Justo Figueiro (williamjf) on 2015-06-11T22:33:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 00000A6A.pdf: 3524242 bytes, checksum: 922479467d06fefba306785c73396c9e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-11T22:33:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 00000A6A.pdf: 3524242 bytes, checksum: 922479467d06fefba306785c73396c9e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-01-21 / CNPQ – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / O objetivo principal desta pesquisa é investigar os processos comunicativos presenciais e digitais nas relações culturais/identitárias da comunidade CS POA (Couchsurfingem Porto Alegre) e as perspectivas que oferecem para a cidadania comunicativa e cultural, pensando nas marcas, mediações e interações da comunidade. Para dar conta da complexidade de nosso objeto, fazemos uma contextualização que envolve os processos transmidiáticos, de midiatização e de globalização, apresentando as redes sociais Couchsurfinge Facebook, a partir das quais CS POA constitui seu cenário digital, e a própria comunidade. Nossa pesquisa tem base em conceitos e teorias relativos às comunidades, às comunidades virtuais e às redes sociais, para entender uma comunidade configurada por cenários presenciais e digitais. Nossa base teórica também é constituída por teorias que tratam das apropriações, das mediações, da cultura, da identidade, da cultura da hospitalidade e da cidadania cultural e comunicativa. Nas estratégias metodológicas, trabalhamos uma combinação dos métodos etnográfico e netnográfico, cuja aproximação empírica contou com a realização de uma pesquisa exploratória. A pesquisa sistemática contou com a entrevista de oito membros da comunidade, com a elaboração de um diário de campo e com observações das interações presenciais e digitais de CS POA. Dentre os resultados obtidos, houve a constatação que marcas culturais gaúchas podem tanto potencializar a hospitalidade na comunidade quanto restringir pontualmente suas práticas cidadãs. As regras tácitas e explícitas da comunidade constituem aspectos de sua identidade e visam o respeito à diversidade dos sujeitos, embora haja subversões. As interações digitais muitas vezes convergem para um estímulo às interações presenciais entre os integrantes de CS POA. / Our research main objective is investigating how face and digital communication processes permeate cultural and identity relations of CS POA community (Couchsurfing’s community in Porto Alegre) and also investigating which prospects are offered by that processes for communicative and cultural citizenship: we are thinking about traces, mediations and community interactions. In order to cover our object complexity, our research context involves transmedia, globalization and mediatization processes, which also presents Couchsurfing and Facebook social networks, which constitute CS POA digital scene, and the community itself. Our research is based on conceptsand theories related to communities, virtual communities and social networks in order tounderstand a community which is configured by real and digital scenes. Our theoretical framework also consists in theories linked to appropriations, mediations, culture, identity, hospitality culture and communicative and cultural citizenship in order to analyze cultural traces that constitute that community and how the relations between social actors and alterities are. Methodology strategies permeated all research’s construction. We have used a combination between ethnographic and netnographic methods and our empirical approach included an exploratory research. In our systematic research we have interviewed eight community members, we have elaborated a diary and we have observed face and digital interactions in CS POA. We have found that cultural traces from Rio Grande do Sul can potentiate hospitality in that community, but also can restrict its citizen practices. Tacit and explicit rules constitute community identity aspects and aim to respect subjects diversity, although there are subversions. Digital interactions often converge to face interactions among CS POA members.

This qualitative case study examines technology-facilitated gender-based violence in relation to network hospitality platform Couchsurfing.com. Motivated by experiences of many women, including my own, and an identified research gap in the academia on the topic, the research seeks to understand how Couchsurfing.com facilitates gender-based violence, with a specific focus on women. The present research is based on a single, explanatory case study methodology, focused on the thematic of analysis of the podcast “Verified”, concerning the case of Italian Couchsurfer and policeman Dino Maglio, who systematically drugged and sexually assaulted his Couchsurfing guests. Key findings highlight how Couchsurfing enabled and perpetuated gender-based violence, by not preventing the creation of new profiles and possible retaliation against negative references, and most importantly, by never admitting to any responsibility. While this violence was facilitated by Couchsurfing.com, other hegemonic social structures and institutions were found in the study to be further perpetuating this violence, in particular the police and the judiciary system. While acknowledging the limitation of a single case study, this master’s thesis contributes to an ever-increasing body of literature on technology-facilitated gender-based violence by shedding light on the different dynamics at play in an online-to-offline Couchsurfing exchange.