Workaway: researching new forms of mobilities

This project investigates Workaway, a social networking site, where ‘guests’ stay, live and volunteer for short and long in exchange for free accommodation and food. The research raises several questions: What are the different typologies of mobile people who use the social networking site ‘workaway’? What is the discrepancy and relation between digital encounters and social relations? How do the host and the guest negotiate trust, expectations and reciprocity between each other without any economic transaction? What is the role of the digital in creating new modes and forms of mobility, conviviality, sociality and cultural exchange? How do we research and understand people’s motivations and anxieties in using ‘workaway’ in hosting and being hosted by strangers? What are the potential and limitations and ethical issues in using digital ethnography in exploring these questions above?