Friends and references

The statements and opinions on this page are solely those of its authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of CouchSurfing International.

CouchSurfing is a network. A network works by connections. Connections in CS are made by Friend links and references.

There seem to be a different understanding about the difference and the meaning of friends and references in the community. This should be changed as soon as possible! A main problem is the meaning of the word "friend": a lot of people think about a friend as something serious, which has probably nothing to do with someone you only by a little chatting. Maybe it's better to change "friend" into "CS-connections".

Only a few discussions at the brainstorming group:

There is also a subgroup dedictated to this topic: Friend Links, AKA "My Connections"

Friends

Friend links symbolize the "who-knows-who-and-how-well"-structure of the network. When you get in touch with someone else from the CS-community you may want to add him/her to your friend list. You do it by surfing to the persons profile and hit the "+ Add to my friends"-button at the friends section. Another page shows up and you'll get a lot of options:

Add to your list of friends? Yes/No
This person will only be added to your list if both of you approve this link. If you select no, this person will appear in your "Other Connections" list.
Met in Person yet? - Yes/No (sometimes a friend link between persons who never "met in person" can make sense)
Friendship Type - choose an option:
- Haven't met yet (link request is not recommended)
- Acquaintance
- CouchSurfing Friend
- Friend
- Good Friend
- Close Friend
- Best Friend
How do you know this person - Briefly describe how you know this person
Date We Met (Year/Month)
CS Experience (Hosted: X days Surfed: X days Traveled: X days)

More about Friends / Personal Connections.

References

The section for a detailed reference is optional. You do not need to leave a reference for everyone. Save your references for those you have actually been hosted by or the ones whom you've hosted. Describe your CouchSurfing experience with this person.

Overall Experience - Options:
- Extremely Positive
- Positive
- Neutral
- Negative
- Extremely Negative
My Experience/Reference : Type in your comments/experience/reference about this person. If you do not have something substantial to say, please feel free to leave this blank.

If you have already left someone a reference and would like to delete it, simply delete the text and save, it's gone!

Remember: you can always chage your references or delete them, if you've had a dispute with another member and left that member a negative reference, you should consider removing it if the dispute becomes resolved as to give this member another chance. You can also change your reference to neutral and objectively describe what happened or what other surfers should be aware of, it's important that you describe accurately your experience as to give a more nuanced picture of the other person.

More about References and more about improvements for negative references.

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