Relationships and Craigslist

Recently, I wrote a paper on how community forms in YouTube.  I probably should have written it on how Craigslist influences community formation.  I have several recent examples:

1. The pastor of my church posted an ad for an internship.  We had one guy apply, and he turned out to be a great asset to our team.  He and I now work together with the youth at my church
2. I responded to an ad for a cellist.  I am now recording in the studio with the guy who posted the ad. I have met so many of his friends and family that I feel like I really am a part of a new community. Music really does bring people together.
3. My student worker awhile back posted an ad in the “missed connections.” Who knew that actually worked?  She was reconnected with a guy she saw only briefly in a coffee shop, and they dated for about six months.
4. A friend of mine recently posted a personal ad, and a different friend of mine responded to it.  Turns out I had actually introduced them at one point in time already.  Still not sure what’s going to happen there, but I am really amused.

I am fascinated by how many of my own personal relationships right now have been influenced by Craigslist.  I am intrigued by whether people are experiencing longer-term interactions within Craigslist or not.  I do not have time to look into it at the moment, but maybe I’ll come back to this later as a potential research topic.

Virtual Community Collide

Yesterday, I had two friends contact me independently. One of them had posted a personal ad on Craigslist and the other one responded to it. They each separately figured out that I knew the other, and were asking me questions about each other. They also both asked me not tell the other one that they had talked to me. I am really amused by this situation.

I am in the process of writing a paper about how community is formed in virtual environments. The premise of dating sites or even sites like Craigslist is that the virtual community and physical community are not very far removed. I’m beginning to see how this works. My two friends have at least seen each other before, they were both at a wedding, and I may have even introduced them at that point in time. They have some commonalities and know a few people in common. I really think that there’s a possibility that they might have met each other in the physical world (and they may already have!) but it was really the technology that helped them to meet each other. Craigslist focused their ability to find those commonalities in each other which are an important foundation for any relationship.