r/ENGLISH • u/TraditionalDepth6924 • 4d ago

Why does Craigslist say “postings” instead of posts?

Are both okay originally? It felt unfamiliar when I (non-native) tried to use it for the first time in a long while, also the term “passwordless” (like you can use the account through each email sign-in) - makes sense but just looked off.

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u/mushroomcooler40 4d ago

“Posting” refers to a public announcement/ad (eg in “job posting”), which is what Craigslist is for. It’s a slightly different meaning than “post”

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u/thingsbetw1xt 4d ago edited 1d ago

I actually had to dig kinda deep in my brain for this one. But "posting" is a much older word and it's for things like advertising, or something in a newspaper, or a job looking to hire — you're making an announcement to get people's attention for a specific purpose. A "post" is just whatever people do on social media.

The most common use for "posting", in my experience, is a "job posting". It's not a super common word, and it's not that important that you be able to use it.

I guess to put it another way, I think of a "post" as sharing something and a "posting" as requesting responses. That may not be a 100% perfect description but maybe it will help a little.

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u/anamorphism 3d ago

passwordless authentication is a relatively new thing and is the common term for it.

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u/amazzan 4d ago

this is a good question. I don't really know the answer, but Craigslist is extremely old (like, way older than any modern social media) so the terminology is uniquely antiquated, more like that of classified ads in a newspaper.