So I have been asked by potential users why would one come to post on this forum when they have access to many such other avenues such as their own division’s/departments FB group or their ethnicity related groups. I thought of compiling some of the ways we can use this resource which may/may not be possible or effective with the other groups:
- Look for participants for your research study – paid or volunteer
- Look for collaborators for your interdisciplinary projects
- Look for roommates; not everybody wants to live with the same people they see every day at work (ie, in their own department/division) or are very similar to them from the same culture.
- Look for language partners/tutors for picking up conversational skills with that new language you’ve been trying to pick up
- Invite people outside of your usual circles to events that you organize
- Recruit people into your book club, mapping group, etc.
- Look for people to play/climb/run/exercise together
- Ask for recommendations for various things that the local community might be better aware of such as water filters, chairs, house cleaners, tailors, cobblers, salons, eye exams, dentist, internet providers and what not.
- Ask for or offer rides to grocery stores that are far from Hyde Park or pool a ride together to save costs. Replace grocery store with any other destination within driving distance, including airports, concerts, IKEA, etc.
- Discuss pros/cons of unionization
- Look for currency exchange if traveling to another country on a short trip
- Ask questions/share experience about university resources such as health insurance
- Look for people who may be willing to pet-sit for your dog/cat during a break when you are away.
- Ask if someone can buy your concert, broadway etc tickets in case you can’t go.
- Buy/sell things (though we should first discuss whether we want to be replacement for Marketplace (but for grad students), which is often non-functional and non-flexible)
These are actual use cases that I have seen people taking advantage of during my time at Brown University as a master’s student. There are hundreds of other use cases that are possible and some of these may not work well for our community, but it’s good to have some idea for new users who might wonder what would they do here.
Questions/comments/suggestions/ideas welcome here. Happy Thanksgiving 
everyone!