The Gestapo of Craig’s List: More failures of Web 2.0
So here’s a sad thing I didn’t realize until I experienced it. People troll Craig’s list and “flag as objectionable” any post they don’t like – for any reason. If your job offer doesn’t pay enough, if someone is selling the same thing, poof, off it goes. No questions are asked of the flagger and there’s no recourse to get it back up there.
And it happens all the time. A guy looking for actors for a short project for just $20 for a couple hours work – zip. Gone.
Our post, looking for a theatre research person, got “flagged as inappropriate”. We’re we looking for a hot, nude research person. Now, just someone who would work from home, doing a short project for pay. Graphic design RFQ, flagged, and I got an email from a graphic designer calling us “sleezebags” because we’d like to see a mockup before we pick a designer.
Craig’s list doesn’t monitor, nor care. You can’t dispute or re-post, the content is tagged.
Craig’s list, on this page, they link to this “unofficial FAQ page” (yet, if it’s unofficial, why are they linking to it?)
http://www.eskimo.com/~newowl/Flagged_FAQ.htm#001
Consider that having your free classified ad taken down is hardly a big deal. It’s not like your dog came down with herpes or your (now) ex-roomie skipped on the phone bill AND scored your favorite Flaming Turds CD. It’s just an ad. Cost you nothing but a bit of time. If you are getting a big emotional reaction over it stop reading right about now. You have emotional issues. You need a therapist, not a FAQ. The authors of this humble document cannot help you. You could post a flaming “suggestion” in the FeedBack Forum filled with passionate references to Flag Nazis, unfairness, censorship,Freedom of Speech, injustice, etc., etc. Many people do. Perhaps it makes them feel better. But nobody will care except for a few trolls who will be mildly amused at your distress. So get Help, really.
Wow. Except my half hour spent writing it up, and money I have to spend to post on another site.
(And here’s someone else complaining about it.)
http://albany.craigslist.org/rnr/1798768407.html
Q: “Several of my posts in the for-sale section got flagged, i have no clue why, they were not offensive at all, and were in the right category…The only thing I can think of is that there were people who were selling the same item, and did not want the competition…But I was under the impression that one person, using the same computer and I.P address, can only flag once per ad? So, how is it that one person can flag multiple times the same ad, and get it deleted? anyone know”
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A: I cant speak for the for-sale section, as I have never posted there or anywhere else on CL except R&Rs [rants and raves]. I have had several non-offensive posts flagged. On R&Rs, your opinion gets flagged if it does not conform to the majority(generally racist) point of veiw.You dont have to use offensive language, swear or name-call to get flagged. You just have to object to the racism, and you get flagged, and the powers that be will delete your posts. Yet the racists rants are allowed to remain posted. This speaks to the mind-set of the majority of the people who post here,and those in control of deleting posts. Complaining about these posts to Abuse does no good- they never respond to or act on the complaints. What does that tell you?
Oh, and here’s the funny loophole: the paid spots never get pulled down. So you ultimately are forced to pay $25 to Craigslist for “post protection”.
