The Saddest Map In America • Hacker News Board

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#31

Post by enraged_camel » Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 9:40 PM UTC

Sodaware wrote: post #29

zalzane wrote: post #28

I never understood the concept of missed connections on craigslist. Honestly, what's the chance of two people meeting each other, forgetting to swap numbers, and then both going onto craigslist to search/post in the missed connections category? It just seems like such an overwhelming statistical improbability that such a missed connection would ever be fulfilled through craigslist, I don't see why anyone would even b…

Probably for the same reason people play the lottery. The odds are against you, but the reward is worth that little bit of effort.

>>but the reward is worth that little bit of effort.

Is it? I would guess that in the vast majority of cases where the two people actually re-connected, it led to a date or two and that's it.

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#32

Post by libraryatnight » Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 9:42 PM UTC

robotmlg wrote: post #2

Indiana's most cited location for a missed connection is "at home." How does that make sense?

I read it initially as symbolic - feeling estranged in a relationship, so it feels even at home like ships passing in the night. But, I think the other explanations here are more likely :)

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#33

Post by hdctambien » Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 9:43 PM UTC

zalzane wrote: post #28

I never understood the concept of missed connections on craigslist. Honestly, what's the chance of two people meeting each other, forgetting to swap numbers, and then both going onto craigslist to search/post in the missed connections category? It just seems like such an overwhelming statistical improbability that such a missed connection would ever be fulfilled through craigslist, I don't see why anyone would even b…

I don't know about missed connections, but I lost my car/house /bike lock keys in Boston while riding my bike to work (somewhere between the end of the bike path and The Garden)

I didn't realize I had lost my keys until after I locked my bike up, so it was a particularly bad after-work-surprise.

Anyways, after a few days of looking all over my house/work for them, my girlfriend suggested I check CraigsList's Lost+Found ... I told her she was crazy. What are the changes that (a) someone found my keys and then (b) that they would post that they found them on CraigsList and (c) I would be able to identify them from their post.

Well, a nice, older gentleman from Southy found my keys at a bus stop (that wasn't even close to anywhere I rode my bike) and had his daughter post about it on Craigslist.

So I can at least say that CraigsList's Lost+Found worked at least 1 time in the history of the universe... so maybe a Missed Connection has a chance too?

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#34

Post by gojomo » Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 9:49 PM UTC

juan_juarez wrote: post #20

What I don't get is the states where it's at a bar. I can understand how it's weird to talk to people in some of those other places but a bar is an explicitly social environment. If people didn't want to talk to others, they'd be drinking at home for far less money. As cliche as it is, "hey, can I buy you a drink" still works as an ice breaker.

'Missed connections' isn't just "made eyes but didn't speak", but also "spoke but didn't get to contact details". So in bars, perhaps a failure of persistence/crowds/group-dynamics rather than ice-breaking.

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#35

Post by ellyagg » Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 9:51 PM UTC

zalzane wrote: post #28

I never understood the concept of missed connections on craigslist. Honestly, what's the chance of two people meeting each other, forgetting to swap numbers, and then both going onto craigslist to search/post in the missed connections category? It just seems like such an overwhelming statistical improbability that such a missed connection would ever be fulfilled through craigslist, I don't see why anyone would even b…

One time my sister-in-law met a guy at a bar and it was one of those movie conversations where they liked the same obscure writers and comedy and whatever. They parted coolly and casually, but the next day they reconnected through Craigslist. So it's happened at least once.

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#36

Post by angersock » Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 9:54 PM UTC

dudurocha wrote: post #19

newishuser wrote: post #9

Why is this sad? Because Walmart is the most cited location? Seems great to me. People are reaching out. Would be more depressing if they just decided to not do anything about it. Plus this only has relevance to craigslist users. Seems like a fun conversation piece but certainly isn't the anything-est anything in America.

I think the sad refers to people how tried to find someone through craigslist.

Yeah--so much worse than selling their personal info and preferences to advertisers on a dating website or social network. They should feel ashamed. :|

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#37

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 9:54 PM UTC

zalzane wrote: post #28

I never understood the concept of missed connections on craigslist. Honestly, what's the chance of two people meeting each other, forgetting to swap numbers, and then both going onto craigslist to search/post in the missed connections category? It just seems like such an overwhelming statistical improbability that such a missed connection would ever be fulfilled through craigslist, I don't see why anyone would even b…

[deleted]

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#38

Post by Avshalom » Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 9:56 PM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #22

newishuser wrote: post #9

Why is this sad? Because Walmart is the most cited location? Seems great to me. People are reaching out. Would be more depressing if they just decided to not do anything about it. Plus this only has relevance to craigslist users. Seems like a fun conversation piece but certainly isn't the anything-est anything in America.

It is, in some ways, a sign of where we are now most likely to see people we don’t know in various parts of the country. One could say the places listed are sad. "What ever happened to ?". You could take it as evidence that we are becoming less social, and withdrawing into our own shells. It’s also a sign of male loneliness or romance: men seeking to find a possible love-mate outnumber women 86 – 14. How is this not…

>>It’s also a sign of male loneliness or romance: men seeking to find a possible love-mate outnumber women 86 – 14.

>How is this not sad?

That's probably more a side effect of socialization that teaches men to take the active role.

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#39

Post by jff » Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 9:59 PM UTC

ComputerGuru wrote: post #26

Chicago's keeping it classy with "TRAIN".

For Chicago, I'd expect "at the crime scene" to be more common.

Re: The Saddest Map In America

#40

Post by saraid216 » Thu, Feb 21, 2013, 10:00 PM UTC

enraged_camel wrote: post #31

Sodaware wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably for the same reason people play the lottery. The odds are against you, but the reward is worth that little bit of effort.

>>but the reward is worth that little bit of effort. Is it? I would guess that in the vast majority of cases where the two people actually re-connected, it led to a date or two and that's it.

How is that not worth it?