I remember hearing an interview with Craig Newmark last year and he was asked how he felt about eBay acquiring a 25% stake i [...]

http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/craigslist/clccrcrg20306cmp.html

A fair housing group in Chicago is going up against Craigslist under the Fair Housing Act, and gives various examples of purportedly illegal content on the site (although they’d also have to establish liability/responsibility, which isn’t necessarily easy). The site’s CEO has of course responded (http://www.craigslist.org/about/fair.housing.html), the story has been /.ed (http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/11/0128255), and the AP has reported on it (e.g. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060213/BUSINESS/602130309/1003), although it’s a slow burning story for the moment.

February 12th, 2006

Brendan Greeley, blogger in chief for Radio Open Source and one of the leading thinkers about the [...]

I sit here today on my patio, in balmy summer weather, gazing out over my pool into my beautiful 1/3 acre of landscaped grounds. My maid is inside ironing, the gardener will be here Thursday to trim back the vines that are threatening to choke one of the trees. My Mercedes ML is in the driveway, waiting for me to take that 5 minute drive down to the beach to let the little dogs run in the sand as I watch the kite surfers. My husband of 2.5 years will be home in an hour or so, unless he decides to drive his little sports car down the beach road, in which case he will be a little longer…

I met him on Craigslist, married him 2 years later, sold off a Silicon Valley tract house for half a mil, packed up my furniture and shipped it here to Cape Town and now live a relaxed, comfortable life a stone’s throw from beautiful Blouberg Beach.

Do I believe in Craigslist? YOU BETCHA! We own rental property here and I’ll bet you can guess where we have it listed…yes, there’s a Craigslist here, too!

Thanks Craig! I couldn’t be happier, and it’s all because of you and your List!

February 11th, 2006

Brendan Greeley has written a poignant piece titled, Brokenhearted, in The Funny Pages section of [...]

I had just finished listening to Radio Open Source’s show on “Craigslist nation” when I was floored bythis story in the Chicago Tribune A Chicago fair housi [...]

Denali

What is your advice to people who want to start other non-profit “Craigslist” type communities? Where should they start? what type of services to add first? Is your foundation going to help in such endeavours (keeping in mind the fact that such ventures, non-profit or altruistic they may be, would cut in on your market share or “mind share”)

Thanks,

El.

I see a convergence – Craigslist is attempting to commercialize, Yahoo/eBay to localize. There was a thread on Craigslist/Boston asking if there should be a per-post fee for job listings. This might or might not cut down on frivolous listings.

Suppose I want to sell my prize Yankee-Red Sox box seats (just kidding!). Should I run my auction on eBay/Boston or on Craigslist/Boston?

Am I really the first to say that I met a wonderful man who I never would have had the opportunity to talk to, much less date? And if you plan to visit Shanghai, you can rent my spare bedroom, it’s on CraigsList Shanghai. I think there’s a whole subgroup of CraigsList world travelers. I had someone from Spain stay with me in China, who used CraigsList in New York, and also rented out his home in Spain.

I would argue that Craigslist’s success isn’t in its size, it’s in the fact that it has retained a community/local concentration. I look at the sites for the city I am in, or the next one I’m going to. I’ve been holding my breath since eBay bought a stake in the company. I can’t see how being profit driven and personal can co-exist.

Lastly, has anyone talked to a used furniture store? They are the only people I know of who have gotten badly, badly hurt by CL.

http://www.holisticforgeworks.com/gallery/foundry/anvil-tacoma-news-tribune.html

http://www.holisticforgeworks.com/gallery/foundry/anvil-juneau-empire.html

I’ll try again:

Craigslist is an example of what the Internet promised (community and communication, and what Anders thinks). Craigslist is simple and powerful ( and other things that Anders thinks).

-Tom

Craigslist isn’t a triumph of community over commercialism — rather, Craigslist is the very embodiment of commerce, the “interchange of ideas, opinions, or sentiments” and “the exchange or buying and selling of commodities on a large scale” (as defined by Merriam Webster).

And this rich forum of exchange is exactly what Friscodave describes when he writes, “I get plugged into groups, community politics, I can rant and rave, get advice, and get much needed comic relief,” or Metolius means when he says, “It moves a lot of merchandise, tarriff free. It mates a lot of people looking for, whatever.”

Craigslist, a place where anyone can freely and efficiently buy or sell any good or service, is the purest realization of a truly free market yet. Every time someone finds an apartment or sells their car for a better price on Craigslist is a victory for capitalism.

Tom, the “simple and powerful” effect you describe isn’t “what the Internet promised”; it’s what the free marketers have been promising all along.

It moves a lot of merchandise, tarriff free. It mates a lot of people looking for, whatever. My wife said, “There should be a documentary on CL”, and then she googled it and there already is one.

Turely a phenom. Truely a service to the people.

Today I decided to give Craigslist a try. I posted my resume as a writer looking for freelance opportunities. We’ll see…

Craigslist is what the Internet promised. It is simple and powerful.

-Tom Lepkowski
Silver Spring, MD