Student Lecture Examines Online Trust

Mar 24, 2010

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Laura Hoverson, Academic Affairs
(218) 299-3257
AMY KELLY, Media Relations director
(218) 299-3642

STUDENT LECTURE EXAMINES ONLINE TRUST

    Michele Hockett, a senior at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., will present the final lecture as part of the 2009-10 Student Lecture Series at 7 p.m., Monday, March 29 in the Morrie Jones Conference Suite A-B, Knutson Campus Center. The lecture, “‘But How Do You Know…?’ A Sociological Analysis of Couchsurfing and Trust,” is free and open to the public.
    Today, people are increasingly dependent on technological tools to communicate with others and maintain or establish relationships. Couchsurfing.org is an example of a rapidly expanding online community facilitating situations of cultural exchange between people, specifically travelers. Members rely solely on internet contact to build a relationship of trust with other members, who they have never met, for the purpose of arranging a housing exchange (referred to as “couchsurfing” in the online community).
    Hockett will explore the factors that influence trust and housing decisions made in the online community Couchsurfing.org to gain a better understanding of trust issues between people offline.
Hockett’s faculty sponsor if Dr. Andrew Lindner, assistant professor of sociology.
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(kk)
10-067

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