What is a note about happy couples doing in a move made in response to a bill to fight sex trafficking? Well, this is the vast possibility and danger of Craigslist. For decades, it's been the place where someone might find the perfect or most horrible roommate; a steal of a couch or total piece of junk; casual sex or even a spouse. One of my oldest childhood friends, for example, posted a Craigslist ad back in the mids and met her husband. Now they're expecting their second child! But answer the wrong ad, and there's a risk of being raped, murdered or falling into a sex-trafficking ring.
As these ads go offline, we spoke to a year-old man in New York who used Craigslist's personal ads - specifically the casual encounters section - as a way of finding casual sex in his early 20s. He spoke to us on condition of anonymity, because, well, that's what Craigslist personals were all about. It's part of what made them successful, he thinks. Unlike dating apps that often require being linked to a social media account, on Craigslist you could be nameless and Facebook-less. And sometimes he didn't even get to see what they looked like.
He estimates that he would answer hundreds of ads, which might net about 10 replies, which might then lead to one in-person interaction. That's a LOT of email. But the encounters were memorable. In one encounter, a woman insisted on having porn blasting the entire time. Another made him put on a blindfold the moment he arrived. He's not happy with Craigslist's decision, even though he's not using the platform anymore.
He has a girlfriend now. But there's a lot of people out there just looking for casual sex and some people find dating apps intimidating. But the public nature of dating apps - friends and friends of friends can see your profile - can make it harder to be forthcoming about just wanting sex, if that's what you're after.
People worry that saying "just here for a hookup," on an app "makes them look like they're slutty or whatever," he says, "so people use Craigslist.
