Are these pictures from users or are they stock pictures?
Which pictures?
Any, all of them.
Then Iād say some are real and some are stock images.
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Do you know?
Stock pictures are a major turnoff and do nothing to enhance the authenticity of couchersā mission. Totally phony. I see the typical crass photo, focusing on young womenās asses. Just like C S dot com, the very model Couchers is supposedly getting away from! Yeah, authentic travel experiences with fake photos sure do encourage and support me as a host! /s
Legit curious because I dont know which pictures youāre talking about- Iām on mobile with a simple layout and may not be seeing the same things. I know that some of the pictures on the main site are ārealā. & agree with the other part of the comment.
The dashboard picture on the app is from Unsplash, you can find the credit on itās bottom right corner. Local community banner pictures are whatever community builders choose and have the rights to use. So either their own or available on free licenses. All other pictures Iām aware of, including the banner pictures here on the forum, are from volunteers.
We didnāt ask members apart from volunteers to offer travel pictures for Couchers to use because thereās quite some administrative overhead involved. They need to sign a usage agreement with their legal name and we need to check an identity document.
I can see that itās a lot of work. Could you find other images that arenāt tits and ass, and which only reinforce C S dot comās crass approach? You would think you were on the same site because these images are EXACTLY what C S dot com uses. Arenāt you trying to differentiate yourselves from C S dot com??? It would be so easy to pick images that affirm Couchersā values, since in my experience C S is now used for hookups and exploiting inexperienced, naive, and vulnerable people to rape and get away with it.
Iām on the website. But seriously, the pictures on this website looks just like C S dont com!!!
It really threw the first time I came to this site and decided to disregard the tits n ass stock picture. This is something I would actually volunteer to do find different pictures than convey something other than sex. I have no problems with sex and sex is happening as I type! but could we have something that doesnāt mirror C S ?
So which one is the tits n ass stock picture that conveys sex?
Donāt be coy. Hot women on the home page sign me up! the āmale gaze.ā Which means for me as a host or even a surfer, this organization isnāt for me. These are C S pictures.
Funny thing, Iāve never seen any buff boys anywhere.
One of the biggest complaints and problems with c s is the lack of safety and accountability for bad hosts. Who raped and killed. Operations are a black box and thereās no person to talk to. And they are like āwe just allow ppl to meet up we have no responsibility.ā And worry about an IPO? I forget.
Same thing here as on c s with this picture. It markets women to men as the lure to join couchers. At least put the stock pic of the people at the dining table on the home page.
Iām not coy. I assume you refer to this photo:
And I find it weird to label this a tits n ass stock picture. Itās a travel picture of a volunteer with her friends.
I donāt want to argue thatās the best picture to have on the forum welcome page. We had a different one before and will pick another one again.
But whatās exactly the issue? That one of the women wears a hotpant? Iām curious to hear other voices if thatās suggestive of anything. I know we had a topic where a member argued that a pragmatic approach for women is to only use profile photos in buggy clothes or showing them from far away, so not to be suggestive of looking for sex. That argument didnāt play out so well.
The other notion I donāt understand is what exactly a C S picture is or what are pictures that look just like C S dot com? I just browsed their page again and probably the last thing I found problematic were their pictures. Do you have an example of such a picture and how it is emblematic of CS as an irresponsible organization?
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To reiterate/clarify, the majority of the images used across the platform come from photos consented, submitted, and approved by volunteers. The main exception is the image head on the platform Dashboard. There are certain design decisions that go into selecting the optimal photo (colors, ratios, direction, responsiveness). The goal is to use community photos, however, in some cases, they may not be ideal for graphic or UX purposes.
In the future, there will be plans to use a community photo that is optimal for the design!
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Yeah, itās not optimal and I actually changed it. Though the current oneās not optimal either Iād say 
What could work well is probably just a mixed group of backpackers? I didnāt find a really good fit on the current collection from volunteers.
On a general note I think everyone profits when we have welcoming and constructive discussions on the forum. But stating oneās opinion in overly crass language is not really helpful towards that end. Thanks for minding that 
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