Craigslist: Now in TV
Craigslist is perhaps best known for helping people around the world find a flat, a job and even a mate.
In the US it caters to more than 50 million people; worldwide, it gets more than 20 billion page-views a month.
It has become the king of the classifieds with users publishing around 50 million new classified ads each month offering everything from romance to a game of tennis and from auto-parts to the chance to be a Traffic-Continuity Co-ordinator for Spanish radio.
It has had its share of unwelcome headlines with attorneys general accusing the site of running a brothel and its connection with a murderer who found his victim on Craigslist.
The site has stressed that it quickly takes down offending posts and has done more than most in helping to combat human trafficking and exploitation.
Now the classified site is branching into the world of television with a YouTube TV station.
Craigslist TV aims to spotlight the real people who use the site in a web-only series.
"Craigslist users are forever finding creative ways to turn free classified ads into fame, fortune, and fun," the company's chief executive officer Jim Buckmaster told the BBC.
"Especially in cities like LA, where Craigslist is like electricity - anything you need you just plug it in. We wanted to share a little of that magic on the small screen."
The TV shows, all based in LA for the moment, highlight the stories of different users who all checked a box on their ad saying they were willing to have their posting considered for this project.
Michael Mullen is an aspiring fashion designer whose story starts out chronicling his efforts to design a red carpet dress for actress Sandra Bullock for the Oscars.
Another story concerns Charity, who is described on the site as "spunky and vivacious". She has had enough of the dating scene and is using Craigslist to help her find a husband.
And there are BFFs (best friends forever) Trista and Tara who "post an ad in Missed Connections on Craigslist after spying a hottie at Subway".
"Michael's quixotic quest is quite something. Very talented guy with great screen presence. Trista looks like Tina Fey, always a good thing in my book. And Charity goes off like a pack of firecrackers," said Mr Buckmaster.
While reality TV doesn't especially have a great reputation and is known for presenting a fairly one-sided and sensationalistic view of a person, Mr Mullen told the BBC he has enjoyed the experience so far and has no regrets:
"It's really a dream of mine to be an evening-wear fashion designer and I had almost given up on the idea of trying to start a dress line because I didn't have the money or some sugar daddy or rich backer.
"I was settling when I had this last-minute crazy idea about trying to design a dress for Sandra Bullock for the Oscars. I decided to put this out on Craigslist and see what happened. I thought: 'Why not? It doesn't hurt to try.'"
I won't give away what happens, but you can Google Sandra Bullock and find out which dress she finally wore at the Oscars.
Of course, it is not the destination that matters at this stage but the journey, and Mr Mullen said it has been an enriching one to date:
"I have always had a hard time believing good things will happen to me. I don't ever set my expectations too high because that way I won't get disappointed. But this time I just thought, what the hell, let's do it.
"It has been such a good kick in the butt. Here I am on TV showing the world I want to be a designer and because I am doing it on TV, it means I have to follow through and make these dresses and products happen.
"It's making me really walk the walk as opposed to talk the talk. It's now or never if I want to be a designer."
See if Michael and the other Craigslist TV stars make their missed connections here .
© MMX
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