CHICAGO — Whether it's trying to drum up the nerve to talk to that person you see on the train every day or finding the one you exchanged glances with on the street, Chicagoans sure do love turning to Craiglist.
Ilia Blinderman, a freelance data journalist, recently analyzed thousands of posts on Craigslist's Missed Connections pages, a feature that allows users to express "what might have been" in a digital, low-risk way.
Blinderman looked at everything from the words used to how often people post to what point in the week they post.
Comparing posts in January across nine of the United States' biggest cities, Blinderman found that Chicago stands out.
During the month, Chicagoans posted on the page 1,938 times. That's about 700 fewer posts than New York City had during January, but given Chicago's much smaller size, Chicagoans are far more likely to post.
Unlike other cities, where people posted on Craigslist usually at the end of the work day or on the weekend, Chicagoans were less likely wait to post their digital daydreaming.
[Ilia Blinderman]
"Chicago was posting steadily throughout the week," said Blinderman, whose project came out of analysis he started during his time at graduate school at Columbia University.
Blinderman said his data doesn't say anything specific about how Chicagoans say things differently in their posts when compared with other cities, but as currently active posts show, the "L" and freezing are likely common themes.
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