This was one of the most fun WordPress implementations I ever put together. It parsed out Craigslist Missed Connections personal ads and presented them in a more readable format. It attempted to map them and make them more searchable, too. I also implemented a “listener” that would watch for new Missed Connections that met user-specified criteria.

The project was a huge success, and everyone seemed to really love it. The traffic was excellent for being fairly underground and unpromoted. One day though a gentleman contacted me saying a post on my site (original from the Missed Connections site) was embarrassing and libelous and that it had caused him quite a bit of grief. Of course, he threatened legal action if I didn’t remove the post. But the fact that one person had had this bad of an experience–basically because the site was incredibly search-engine-optimized and his post was at the top of all search results for his name–I didn’t want to risk anyone else having such an experience. After all, it was just for fun.

So I decommissioned SawYou.at in early 2011. It was easily the most publicly useful web project so far, and it paved the way for SystemsConsciousness.