SOCIAL NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES AND THE MORAL ECONOMY OF ALTERNATIVE TOURISM: THE CASE OF COUCHSURFING.ORG

• The moral effects of technology are examined in the context of alternative tourism.
• A ‘moral affordance’ framework is applied to an analysis of CouchSurfing.
• Findings reveal how a moral economy and moral encounters are enabled by technology.
• The contextual nature of ‘moral affordances’ is discussed.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role social networking technologies play in the moral economy of alternative tourism. The study takes as its empirical focus the online hospitality exchange network Couchsurfing. Using the concept of ‘moral affordances’, the analysis outlines the way Couchsurfing’s technical systems, software design, and search algorithms enable participants to engage in a moral economy based on the non-commodified provision of accommodation to strangers and personal relations of trust and intimacy. Findings suggest that these affordances are not isolated effects of the technologies themselves, but rather reflect a broader moral landscape in which alternative tourism is performed.