"Ungentrified" Craigslist may be the last real place on the Internet

"The writer and comedian Megan Koester got her first writing job, reviewing Internet pornography, from a Craigslist ad she responded to more than 15 years ago. Several years after that, she used the listings website to find the rent-controlled apartment where she still lives today. When she wanted to buy property, she scrolled through Craigslist and found a parcel of land in the Mojave Desert."

""There's so many elements of my life that are suffused with Craigslist," says Koester, 42, whose Instagram account is dedicated, at least in part, to cataloging screenshots of what she has dubbed "harrowing images" from the site's free section; on the day we speak, she's wearing a cashmere sweater that cost her nothing, besides the faith it took to respond to an ad with no pictures. "I'm ride or die.""

"many of them in their thirties and forties, who not only still use the old-school classifieds site but also consider it an essential, if anachronistic, part of their everyday lives. It's a place where anonymity is still possible, where money doesn't have to be exchanged, and where strangers can make meaningful connections-for romantic pursuits, straightforward transactions, and even to cast unusual creative projects, including experimental TV shows like The Rehearsal on HBO and Amazon Freevee's Jury Duty."

Megan Koester got her first writing job reviewing Internet pornography from a Craigslist ad more than fifteen years ago. She later found her rent-controlled apartment through Craigslist and purchased a parcel of land in the Mojave Desert that she developed into a dwelling, furnished entirely with items from the site's free section. Many users in their thirties and forties continue to rely on Craigslist for jobs, housing, free goods, and to cast creative projects. Craigslist allows anonymity, exchanges without payment, and connections for romantic pursuits, transactions, and casting experimental TV and other unusual projects. Craigslist lacks algorithmic tracking, public profiles, ratings, or 'likes'.

Read at Ars Technica