The document examines account sharing challenges within networked hospitality exchange, focusing on couchsurfing.org as a case study. It identifies key issues such as presenting multiple people in a single profile, negotiating access to domestic spaces, and fairly sharing reputation benefits. The findings highlight the need for design considerations that accommodate multi-person households participating in these services.

1. Account
Sharing
in
the
Context
of
Networked
Hospitality
Exchange
Airi Lampinen @airi_!
Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT!
*Research done at Microsoft Research New England!

2. Couchsurfing.org:
Non-­‐monetary
Networked
Hospitality
Exchange
Network
hospitality
(Molz,
2011):
The
ways
users
of
hospitality
exchange
services
connect
with
one
another
via
online
tools,
and
the
kinds
of
relaAonships
they
perform
when
they
meet
each
other
offline
and
face
to
face

3. Why
are
account
sharing
and
network
hospitality
important
for
CSCW?
• Many
popular
and
emerging
online
sharing
and
collaboraAve
consumpAon
systems
allow
people
to
engage
in
network
hospitality
and
in
other
types
social
exchange
of
goods
and
services
• People
oFen
live
together
with
others
and
co-­‐
own
resources
-­‐
services
that
support
opening
up
domesAc
spaces
and
sharing
other
types
of
resources
need
to
take
this
into
account
• This
project
sheds
light
on
the
account
sharing
challenges
encountered
by
mulF-­‐
person
households
who
offer
to
host
strangers
in
their
homes
through
Couchsurfing.org

4. Case
Study
of
Account
Sharing
on
Couchsurfing.org
• In-­‐depth,
semi-­‐structured
interviews
with
16
individuals
from
8
households
of
more
than
one
people
who
offer
to
host
couchsurfers
in
their
domesAc
spaces
• Primary
focal
points
of
the
analysis:
1. SeNng
up
and
maintaining
profiles
2. Handling
CouchRequests
3. WriAng
and
receiving
references
aFer
hosAng
couchsurfers

5. Challenges
Related
to
Account
Sharing
in
the
Context
of
Network
Hospitality
1. PresenAng
mulAple
people
in
a
single
profile
2. CoordinaAng
negoAaAons
over
access
to
domesAc
space
3. RepresenAng
in
a
fair
way
the
reputaAon
hosts
have
accumulated
together
over
Ame

6. Challenge
I:
PresenFng
MulFple
People
in
One
Profile
“Right
now,
it’s
just
male,
female,
or
mul5ple
people.
And
then
you
can
put
mul5ple
pictures
or
you
can
describe,
but
there’s
no
way
to
actually
say
we
are
this
person,
this
person
and
this
person.
And
not
all
of
us
have
a
way
to
log
in
and
see
the
site
unless
we
just
share
my
login.”
"

7. Challenge
II:
NegoFaFng
over
Access
to
DomesFc
Spaces
“We
definitely
always
look
at
the
request
and
talk
about
it
together
[..]
I
don’t
think
one
of
us
would
say
yes
or
no
to
someone
before
we
had
talked
about
it.”
"

8. Challenge
II:
NegoFaFng
over
Access
to
DomesFc
Spaces
”Yeah
usually
the
way
we
do
it
is
he
checks
the
account,
but
he
sends
me
the
details
and
then
we
discuss
whether
those
days
work
and
then
I
respond
to
him
and
he
writes
back
and
then
he
starts
cc'ing
me
on
any
email
exchanges
he
has.”
"

9. Challenge
III:
Sharing
the
Benefits
of
a
Trustworthy
ReputaFon
ould
uess
that
e'd
“Yeah,
I
wwrite
gt,
because
w
bet,
like,
probably
i
I
if
we
had
a
really
fun
5me,
then
we
would
probably
want
to,
like,
sit
together,
and
say,
oh,
this
was
fun,
that
was
fun,
and
write
about
it.
And
if
we
were
like,
a
liIle
peeved,
then
I
think
we
would
want
to,
like,
talk
together
about
how
to
be
polite
but
also
be
honest”.

10. Challenge
III:
Sharing
the
Benefits
of
a
Trustworthy
ReputaFon
“the
first
5me
I’m
hearing
about
feedback”

11. Challenge
III:
Sharing
the
Benefits
of
a
Trustworthy
ReputaFon
Not
knowing
what
kind
of
a
reputaAon
one’s
household
has
online
may
be
problemaAc
For
instance,
lesser
opportuniAes
to
benefit
from
a
good
reputaAon
accumulated
through
joint
hosAng
efforts

12. Designing
for
Shared
Use:
Shared
Profiles
and
ReputaFon
• A
profile
that
showcases
posiAve
references
is
likely
to
increase
its
owners’
success
in
requesAng
a
place
to
stay
(or
in
receiving
visitors
to
host)
–
how
to
allow
everyone
involved
in
hosFng
to
benefit
fairly?
• Current
design
provides
li`le
assistance
for
transferring
reputaAon
to
a
new
context
–
how
to
support
conFnuing
parFcipaFon
as
a
reputed
member
aOer
a
life
change?
• How
about
designing
mulF-­‐person
profiles
as
collecFons
of
components
that
can
be
combined
and
decomposed
as
needed?
(Consider
the
trade-­‐offs!)

13. Designing
for
Shared
Use:
Shared
Access
and
Awareness
Some
parAcipants
were
not
c
the
• affordances
Couchsurfing.org
ontented
with
ooperaFve
provides
for
c
coordinaFon
• When
it
comes
to
facilitaAng
cooperaAon
among
mulAple
household
members
who
are
sharing
an
account,
however,
seemingly
easy
fixes,
such
as
allowing
mulAple
redirect
addresses,
may
introduce
inadvertent
challenges
• Group-­‐level
coordinaAon
is
not
an
issue
that
could
be
‘solved
by
design’,
rather
provide
users
with
meaningful
choice
and
encourage
joint
reflecFon

14. Designing
for
Shared
Use:
Shared
Access
and
Awareness
Asking
people
rFculated
• when
they
are
tso
consider
c
slearly
aaccount
in
choices
eNng
up
a hared
an
online
system
could
help
them
reflect
on
and
discuss
together
how
to
handle
their
account
• Next
to
opAons
from
which
to
select
in
seNng
up
a
profile,
the
setup
process
could
be
accompanied
with
a
short
list
of
issues
household
members
should
agree
upon
and
examples
of
how
others
have
resolved
them:
– who
maintains
the
profile?
– how
are
decisions
over
whom
to
host
made?
– who
answers
messages
and
writes
references?

15. Conclusion
• Key
challenges
of
account
sharing
in
the
context
of
networked
hospitality
exchange
include
1. presenAng
mulAple
people
with
a
single
profile
2. coordinaAng
and
negoAaAng
responding
to
CouchRequests
3. sharing
the
benefits
of
a
good
reputaAon
in
a
fair
way
• Similar
issues
may
occur
in
other
instances
of
network
hospitality
as
well
as
in
systems
that
facilitate
online
exchange
or
ridesharing
• Amidst
the
rising
rhetoric
of
a
‘reputaFon
economy’,
what
are
the
inclusions,
exclusions,
and
inequaliAes
that
reputaAon
metrics
may
renew
or
create,
especially
if
they
fail
to
acknowledge
people’s
account
sharing
pracAces?

16. Future
DirecFons
• Money:
Account
sharing
pracAces
in
non-­‐monetary
vs
monetary
networked
hospitality
exchange
• Household
types:
Differences
in
terms
of
preferences
and
pracAces
for
account
sharing
• Beyond
network
hospitality:
Account
sharing
when
it
comes
to
sharing
other
types
of
resources,
such
as
cars,
bikes,
or
other
tangible
items
Acknowledgements
The
research
for
this
paper
was
conducted
while
at
MicrosoF
Research
New
England.
I
wish
to
thank
the
parAcipants
and
acknowledge
rMary
L.
Gray,
iNancy
Baym,
the
S
ocial
Media
CollecAve,
colleagues
at
HIIT
and
the
anonymous
eviewers
for
nvaluable
advice.
The
work
was
finalized
with
funding
from
the
TEKES
project
FuNeSoMo.

17. Photo
credits:
• h`p://www.flickr.com/photos/donnagrayson/109052424/
sizes/l/
• h`p://www.flickr.com/photos/katewares/9505200323/sizes/
l/
• h`p://www.flickr.com/photos/alisonchrisAne/11288183315/
sizes/l/
• h`p://www.flickr.com/photos/49024304@N00/4521267075/