Data journalist Ilia Blinderman analyzed 10,000 Craigslist Missed Connections posts from Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Antonio, and San Diego during the month of January. He dug deep to figure out who posts—what cities they live in, how old they are, and what the gender breakdown is—when they post, and what words they use. He molded this data into a series of visualizations that reveals just how weird Missed Connections can be.
Blinderman’s visualizations aren’t always that easy to read, design-wise, but his analysis about the most-used words in posts is full of surprises. The smaller white circles in the middle represent more common phrases. Women seeking women have a tendency to use the words “submissive lady,” “flower growing,” “special gift,” and occasionally, “disease free.” Men seeking women commonly are looking for someone with “dark hair” or “brown hair,” and mention having “locked eyes,” perhaps “last night” or in a “parking lot” (frankly, it’s probably better those men didn’t have the courage to start hitting on women in parking lots at night). Men seeking men also talk about parking lots, in addition to the “steam room,” with the stipulation that posting is a “long shot.”
via Mental Floss
Image Credit: Screenshot via Vox
