In the early 2010s, I used to be an Couchsurfing user - as a host, guest, and even just meetups for tours/recs while traveling internationally.
> After all, why do something for free when you could get paid instead?
I really doubt the Couchsurfers were the ones who were converting their listings to Airbnb spots initially. Rather I think Airbnb enabled previously unwilling (or unmotivated) people to start hosting others for a cost.
The type of people I would meet were from a different cut of cloth than Airbnb folks. One picked up my friend and I from a Megabus stop and later we ended up going to our host's second home on Martha's Vineyard. One let us try out his expensive cycling bike out for a bike ride. I've attended a yoga session with my Couchsurfing host before on a trip. When I hosted, I took my guest (a cadet at West Point who hadn't had drinks in forever) on a spontaneous bar hop with my group if friends.
There was always a mentality of paying a good experience forward and a sense of community - which is tough to preserve when it becomes a transactional experience.
That being said, I agree Airbnb likely led to the downfall of the CS community. There were some sketchy ppl in that world. After running into one of those, I slowly found myself preferring to pay for the security and safety although deep down I knew I was going to miss out on all the fun that I couldn't simply pay for. As for hosting, I just wasn't interested anymore knowing that if someone were paying to crash at my place, it would be less about hanging out or getting recs but more about just needing a reliable roof to cover... where's the fun in that for a host?
> After all, why do something for free when you could get paid instead?
I really doubt the Couchsurfers were the ones who were converting their listings to Airbnb spots initially. Rather I think Airbnb enabled previously unwilling (or unmotivated) people to start hosting others for a cost.
The type of people I would meet were from a different cut of cloth than Airbnb folks. One picked up my friend and I from a Megabus stop and later we ended up going to our host's second home on Martha's Vineyard. One let us try out his expensive cycling bike out for a bike ride. I've attended a yoga session with my Couchsurfing host before on a trip. When I hosted, I took my guest (a cadet at West Point who hadn't had drinks in forever) on a spontaneous bar hop with my group if friends.
There was always a mentality of paying a good experience forward and a sense of community - which is tough to preserve when it becomes a transactional experience.
That being said, I agree Airbnb likely led to the downfall of the CS community. There were some sketchy ppl in that world. After running into one of those, I slowly found myself preferring to pay for the security and safety although deep down I knew I was going to miss out on all the fun that I couldn't simply pay for. As for hosting, I just wasn't interested anymore knowing that if someone were paying to crash at my place, it would be less about hanging out or getting recs but more about just needing a reliable roof to cover... where's the fun in that for a host?