Show HN: HackerCouch
Interesting.<p>I&#x27;ve hosted over 40 couchsurfers in Manhattan so I have a few concerns.<p>My largest one is that HackerCouch lacks a reference system so that people &quot;know&quot;  who is a good or bad host or guest. Googling every one who messages me, the host, may not yield as much info as I would like, since most folks aren&#x27;t 1000-twitter-followers, ten-thousand-github-commits, Forbes-interviewed, rockstars (Like Me![1]). Accordingly, HackerCouch needs some faculty to indicate and ensure the trustworthiness of its listings: perhaps like the kinds founds in Couchsurfing.org, BeWelcome or AirBnb. Otherwise, all hosts ought to have and to link their listings to at least one other platforms so guests can see their pictures, reviews, and other metadata, to make an informed decision to stay with someone who is, essentially, a stranger.<p>On this note of having to use another platform: I know I would also have to create a staging email address for managing requests. Having received 400+ requests in 4 months, I can safely say that 1% of people will go to... creepy lengths if they feel like they aren&#x27;t getting the attention they deserve. Clearly showing off all my contact info is fine on my marketing site, but not fine when I&#x27;m offering something up for free that people can take free advantage of. AirBnB and Couchsurfing offer a comforting layer of messaging for the host: allowing me to interact cordially with most potential guests without fear of the crazies.<p>Please note I&#x27;m not saying this to discourage you; I would just like this promising idea to avoid the many painful lessons Couchsurfing.org has learned. (... and then ignored.)<p>[1] This is sarcasm. But if we meet in real life, I&#x27;ll be sure to scream about it with conviction[2].<p>[2] This is not sarcasm.