“The real devils come out on Craigslist,” says Koester. “There’s a sacredness to it.” Still, the site is a little less tame than it used to be: Craigslist discontinued its “casual encounters” ads and took its personals section offline in 2018, after Congress passed legislation that would have put the company on the hook for listings from potential sex traffickers. However, the “Missed Connections” section remains active.
The site is what Jessa Lingel, associate professor of communications at the University of Pennsylvania, has called the “disconnected” Internet. If that’s the case, online gentrification has accelerated in recent years, thanks in part to the proliferation of AI. Even Wikipedia and Reddit, which are visually basic sites built early on and have a Craigslist-like emphasis on fostering communities, have both incorporated their own versions of AI tools.
Some may argue that Craigslist, in contrast, is outdated; An article published in this magazine more than 15 years ago called it “underdeveloped” and “unexpected”. But for the site’s most dedicated followers, that’s where its appeal lies.
“I think Craigslist is having a revival,” says Kat Toledo, an actor and comedian who regularly uses the site to hire co-hosts for her L.A.-based stand-up show, Besitos. “When something is so simply structured and really serves the community, and doesn’t ask for much? That’s what survives.”
Toledo started using Craigslist in the 2000s and never stopped. Over the years, she has turned to the site to find romance, housing, and even her current job as a forensic psychologist’s assistant. Defying Craigslist’s reputation as a supplier of potentially sketchy one-off gigs, she has worked there full-time for nearly two years. The stigma of the website, which is sometimes synonymous with scammers and, in more than one instance, murderers, can be hard to shake. “If I’m not doing a good job,” Toledo says she jokes with her employer, “just remember you found me on Craigslist.”
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