Some great, gritty stories arise from Craigslist, a centralised network of local classifieds and forums for 450 cities worldwide.
In December, three men in Illinois, in the United States, were arrested for posting ads on Craigslist to lure people to their neighbourhood in order to rob them. In the same month, four people in Oregon, also in the US, were arrested and charged with running a prostitution ring by using the Craigslist classifieds.
On the Best Of page, the webmaster warns that 'postings may be explicitly sexual, scatalogical, offensive, graphic, tasteless and/or not funny'.
Not that the naughtiness is the point - try reading the classic English literature syllabus author Geoffrey Chaucer; no online scribe could 'out-crude' him.
Much of the showcased material in the Best Of page is so good, it may make you wonder why anyone bothers buying scandal rags and self-help books.
Many of the gems, be they droll or despairing, stem from the same impulse: finding a mate. Consider a biting post titled 'Women aren't attracted to men'.
