Craig is no saint, and actively goes after any competition to his site. That, coupled with the complacency or refusal to go after spammers leaves me with a very sour opinion of the platform and Craig himself.
Craig is no saint, and actively goes after any competition to his site. That, coupled with the complacency or refusal to go after spammers leaves me with a very sour opinion of the platform and Craig himself.
I have no doubt that lots of people are getting hurt using Craigslist. I would never recommend it to friends or family.
IME any online platform is going to be a staircase into the bowels of human nature. It's all about being aware you need to protect yourself online. If you're encountering things like child porn or prostitution, or anything illegal really, it's your responsibility to at least report it.
Sure. I spent a few weeks looking for an Xbox Series X, and I don't believe that I'm exaggerating when I say that 90%+ of the listings were scams. For about half of those, the scammers just weren't very good, and automated or semi-automated checks should've flagged those listings before anyone saw them. The other half were various scams documented in thousands of articles by a cottage industry created in lieu of anti-abuse measures.
> IME any online platform is going to be a staircase into the bowels of human nature.
Granted, but some bowels are cleaner than others. Craigslist clearly does not get enough fiber in its diet.
> If you're encountering things like child porn or prostitution, or anything illegal really, it's your responsibility to at least report it.
I did, of course, but I got tired of working for Craigslist for free after a while.
It makes sense to me as a strategy for leveraging fuzzy automation. Sorting is less risky than hiding or deleting. If the system gets it wrong, there is a still an opportunity for motivated users to dig down and find incorrectly down-sorted items.
It was like a virtual clipboard in the laundromat.
Then the feds came and kicked in the doors.
https://lokilist.com/about.php
It's slow going but fortunately text is cheap to host so I can keep this up indefinitely.
Edit: If you like it make a post. Even better share the link to the post. Network effect is real.
The corkboard is still there. If you start using it again, others will. Same way CL, FBM, and the others got traction.
> In March, Craigslist pulled its personals section in response to a sex-trafficking bill that holds platforms liable if they are found to be facilitating sex trafficking and prostitution. The reaction was not without merit: over the years, websites like Craigslist and Backpage had become online marketplaces for illegal sexual activity. https://qz.com/1310350/what-we-lost-when-craigslist-shut-dow...
What do you mean by this? Is he acquiring the competition or is there another way he's going after them?
"Craigslist has sued or issued cease-and-desist letters to dozens of startups in recent years. A New York Times technology blog last year complained that the site "has dug an effective moat by cultivating an exaggerated image of 'doing good' that keeps its customers loyal, while behind the scenes, it bullies any rivals that come near and it stifles innovation."
The article itself is a little old, but it still holds true.
If you've ever searched for an apartment or a car for sale you'll find that many of the new and popular sites are literally just posting ads scraped from craigslist.