Craigslist - an internet tyranny

tyranny - arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority.

tyrant - a sovereign or other ruler who uses power oppressively or unjustly.

Craigslist is one of the most popular free classifeds sites in the country, and maybe the world. Everyone knows it, many use it. It's also one of the most unfriendly free classifieds. It's poorly organized, the rules are vague, and the entire thing is governed by tyrants according to their agenda. It is a tyranny.

One of the reasons CL is so popular is its simplicity. No fancy site graphics or advanced webpage dynamics. Just simple HTML links. Anyone can use it with little internet knowledge. As evidenced by the poor communication and writing skills of many of the ad posters, it doesn't take much intelligence either.

You'll notice that I do not provide a link to Craigslist. Even though I sometimes use it, I won't endorse it in any way. But it doesn't matter. Anyone can find it with a simple google.

For the uninformed, the Craigslist Flag is the all-mighty weapon available for anyone to wield. You don't even have to be logged in to use it. Don't like that ad? You can flag it. For any reason at all. Enough flags, and the ad will be deleted. The ad poster isn't given an explaination for being flagged. They have to figure it out based on the rather vague Rules and Terms Of Use. Those same rules and TOU are interpreted by the flaggers however they choose, and it will be according to their personal agenda.

I've been a victim of CL flaggers on more than one occasion. In most of those cases, I had no idea why my ad was flagged. It was similiar to other ads that seemed to be allowed. Or were until the flaggers caught up with them. I couldn't find the reason in the rules.

So I logged in one day and went to the forums. You have to be logged in to use them. There's a flag forum where you are supposed to get help with your ad. Here's what I learned.

- There will be someone manning the forum at all times. Who are these "helpers"? My guess is they are flaggers who apparently have nothing better to do. I saw nothing that made me think they were actual CL employees. I base that assumption on the many rude replies. Flaggers are often rude, small-minded, and many are probably somewhat illiterate.

- You'll get short, curt, and often rude replies to your honest questions. Of course, you'll be referred to the Rules and TOU. Which doesn't tell you much. That's why you are asking the forum.

- When I asked why my ad was flagged, I was told (rudely) that I should have read the email that was sent. Didn't get one...ever. I was told to check spam folders. Did...not there. Oh, I take that back, I did get one, just one, in another email account. Not in the spam folder, BTW. What did it tell me? NOTHING! It's a form email that gives the link to TOU, etc. Right back where I started.

- According to this forum "moderator", my ad was in the wrong category. Ok, I'll buy that. Sort of. In this case, it was a pet accessory. I put it in the Pets category. That's logical, right? I saw other similiar items in that category. He/she said it belonged under General sales. This is where more CL unfriendliness comes in. Who looks under General for pet stuff? There is a huge list of categories for just about everything you can think of. General is for things that don't fit anywhere else. Why isn't there a category for pet supplies? Wouldn't that make sense? It's not like it's an uncommon thing. Far from it. Most other classifieds think it merits its own category. Why not CL? It would certainly cut down the misplaced ads and the "need" to flag.

An added note to the above. Posts requesting items in the related category are also flagged/deleted. Why? Because they are supposed to go under Wanted. Again, who would look there? Remember, we're dealing with a largely uneducated group of users here. They see the word Pets and go there for anything pet related. What they find is extreme tyranny.

- I was told it takes "several dozen" flags to get an ad deleted. Really? And only one flag per person. REALLY? So there are 36+ (my definition of "several dozen") people sitting there at any time just waiting to flag whatever they don't like. I find that hard to believe. Just today I went into the forum again, just to look around, and found one post that says one flag will do it. In the next line, it says two. So which is it? Do just one or two people hold this power (tyrant) or does it really take a host of flaggers?

Flaggers. I wonder if they are proud of that label? I'm sure they think of themselves as diligent upholders of the "law". What they really are...little tyrants with nothing else to fill their days. Here's what I've learned about flaggers.

- They wield absolute power (again, the definition of tyrant). If they don't like the way your ad is worded...flag. If you try to fix it to suit them...not good enough, you've already been flagged and will continue to be flagged. If you piss them off...flagged. Any flagger having a bad day can go and flag any and everything to make themselves feel better and more powerful.

- They flag based on their own agenda. Most flagging occurs in the Pets category. I've yet to figure out just what Pets is for. They say so a pet can find a new adoptive home. Yet, many such ads are flagged. According to the rules and TOU, a "rehome fee" is allowed, but the flaggers decide whether it is acceptable, and for most of them only free is acceptable.

- Flaggers will respond to your ad just to feel you out. If they don't like your response, the ad is immediately flagged/deleted. Again, I find it hard to believe it takes many flags to do this. I've only got one response and then my ad was gone.

- Flaggers are regional. Some areas don't suffer from the ever-present tyrants, others are apparently made up of small-minded people with way too much time on their hands.

One of the more interesting categories is Rants & Raves. This is under Personals where there are practically no rules. It's R-rated and pretty much anything goes. Here you can see the mentality of regional users. In my area, they are extremely crass, mostly uneducated, bigoted, and barely literate. I've looked at other areas (larger cities, for instance) and the intellectual level seems to be higher.

Oddly, I've been flagged here as well. I've ranted about CL itself, and apparently that's prohibited. I'm not even using foul language (well, maybe a few 4-letter words). The flaggers are alive and well even here, but they don't seem to mind the obscene and often bigoted comments made by others. Tell me again it takes a bunch of flags to delete a post. I don't think so.

So enough from me about that. If you are fed up with the Craigslist Tyranny, I highly recommend eBay Classifieds. It's user-friendly, intelligently organized, and you can sell whatever you want as long as it's not illegal. It worked for me. Help take down the tyranny by supporting other avenues.