As part of a move to consolidate online living as much as possible, Craigslist-imitator Oodle has just integrated with Twitter. This appears to be an attempt to add a social dimension to classified ads. As things currently stand with Craigslist, doing business through online ads is rather impersonal. Oodle wants to change this by mixing classified ads and social media together to create a better experience for users.

The company is going to start by sending a stream of ads to its Twitter account. They're looking at sending out something like 10,000 Tweets a day right now. Their ad-Tweets will contain hashtags and be searchable by keyword. Users will be able to put up listings on their Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace pages all from the same screen, which will make it a lot easier for the Internet-savvy to sell their wares or get advice on purchases they are considering. Oodle thinks that increased exposure and discussion will make it easier to sell products through classified ads online.

“We’re trying to get people talking about listings on these networks...When someone sees a job listing, for example, we want them to be able to ask a friend on MySpace if they’ve worked there. If there’s a used car they’re looking at, they can get an instant reaction from their Twitter stream about other drivers’ experiences. We know these conversations are happening offline—we want to facilitate people having them online.” said Oodle CEO Craig Donato.

That seems to be the main reason for this integration. The Internet is already a normal part of our daily lives, but businesses like Oodle want online interactions to be less different from real-life interactions than they currently are. The reason is simple; the more comfortable people are online, the more likely they are to buy and sell their goods there. That's pretty sound logic, but how it will work in practice remains to be seen.