Editing Intercultural exchange (section)

=== Hospitality Exchange Travel Networks ===
In our technically advanced age more and more so called 'social networks' poped up in the internet as new forms of social interaction (e.g. the popular [[Facebook]]). In between the masses of new web services a special form of social networks make their way so called '[[hospitality exchange networks]]'. They are special because they stimulate real and personal, not virtual, social interactions. Their missions are similar, “bringing travellers in touch with people in the place they visit, and by giving ‘locals’ a chance to meet people from other cultures we can increase intercultural understanding and strengthen the peace on our planet”, as stated on [[HospitalityClub]] (n.d.), on of the largest networks. One network, [[Servas]], is still paper based, dates even further back as far 1948 where thousands of “host and travellers share the goals of building world peace, goodwill, understanding, and mutual tolerance [...] by share and shelter travellers from around the world” (n.d.) and "CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance, and facilitate cultural understanding." (n.d.).

Nearly one million members use these networks to get in touch with locals and travellers, rapidly growing, and are therefore not just a marginal phenomenon (HospEx Ne>>t, n.d.). One can question what effect this cultural exchange has. Whether these networks increase [[intercultural understanding]] and strengthen the peace on our planet as they pledge. In order to understand this, one might find evidence in the processes of prejudice and discrimination, that has driven all of history’s wars and group violence (Eidelson & Eidelson, 2003).