Craigslist launches their official blog today at blog.craigslist.com. Previously founder Craig Newmark would get the word out via his personal blog, but now Craigslist has it’s own voice. The blog is lacking a RSS feed and has only rudimentary comments, but it is a true blog nonetheless.
By the look of the first few posts the new blog will make for interesting reading. There is commentary on the recent Oregon “take all my stuff” issue (our coverage), as well as a discussion of the new phone verification system for their erotic services category.
The top post takes the prize though. They accuse Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of slander for his recent accusations that Craigslist “profits from prostitution:” “Connecticut craigslist users are no doubt curious as to why their AG is spending time attacking freedom of speech and law-abiding companies that provide much-needed free services to the people…”
thanks one fugly blog
Interesting move from Craigslit, what surprises me is for such a basic service that Craigslist provides, how come there are no serious competitors out there !!
I wonder if Craigslist will have top 10 lists on their blog.
It looks like they are using a home grown solution rather than using off-the-shelf popular blogging platforms like Wordpress, MT or others.
Craigslist started early and most of today’s competing services need money to generate the same kinds of traffic – that doesn’t mean there aren’t serious competitors, they just need to do more and spend more to get to the same point.
We’re working on some pretty cool technology ourselves and look forward to competing with them in the used cars area – which we feel needs a lot of updating.
No RSS? Lamer than lame.
@Saagar who knows, probably got lucky from some venture capitilist by being at the right place and the right time. So many sites sky rocket into popularity because of reasons like the CEO of the site happened to use to work with Paypal or Yahoo or something.
Yes I know craiglist didn’t happen that way, but most seem to!
Business model for the site?
The underpants gnomes and I still can’t figure that out.
Oh would would he?
Hey Guys,
what are the characteristics of a true blog? I would like to reflect ont this as so far i haven’t found any good explanation in any literature
http://www.crai...about/best/all/
Here is the Best of Craigslist
this was the first blog post
and you will spend HOURS laughing at the bizarre and nervey
It’s nice to see cl respond with a blog of their own – long overdue!
-Tim White
Founder
craigslistblog.org
Would it kill them to use WordPress though? I have issues with developers who want to reinvent the wheel but develop something subpar.
I’m glad they did. It will give me lots of material to refute.
http://craigscrimelist.org
Craigslist needs to get serious about it’s reputation. They are going to have to come up with a some kind of deterrent for the criminal vulnerability in their process. When was the last time you heard of someone having their house burglarized, or attacked based on a classified ad in the local newspaper?
They continue to distract themselves with shouting matches like the AG reference above instead of addressing the obviuos problems. They could keep their utopian ideals and still make some adjustments in their process to deter the rep hitting activities while at the same time providing some basic environmental protections to their userbase.
Yeah, lame. I like http://www.craigslistblog.org a lot more. Seems like cl doesn’t really know what they’re doing in the blogosphere!
I noticed they recently beefed up their anti-spam efforts. Unfortunately this stopped me from posting legit posts in finding new programmers. I was able to create a post but it never made it on to the category listings.
Not sure what their whacked out formula is for deciding what is and isn’t spam but I’ll be using that site a lot less now seeing how I can’t make simple posts.
We tried scraping a feed from that blog, but the page structure is so f’ed that we weren’t able to. Also the “Best of CL’s” page, which is hillarious, has a totally non-functional RSS feed as well. Hello!
when will it have video? lol
I’m going to echo the comments of a couple of other posters and ask why in the world they couldn’t use Wordpress (my preference) or MTOS. The form and function of that site are both absurd.
I can’t believe they didn’t provide an RSS feed. Ridiculous.
Not for nothing, but possessive its is its.
ya +1 to ceejayoz’s comment… where’s the rss?
Wow…it’s about time Craigslist gets a blog no? Crazy that there is no RSS feed but this is a great complimentary addition to the site to explain certain features, issues, and newsworthy stuff about CL.
I dunno man, it’s weird for writing comments. Can’t get my head around it or figure out how to leave one. Gone a bit OTT on their trademark retro interface – their back end is probably ROR like the rest of us Sili folk.
I would like to see a CL competitor that features a better search
Looking for a Cadillac? You will have to search for Caddy and Cady as well.
I spent about 5 frustrating days getting a simple post on CL but it just would not list. Their site must be designed and developed by monkeys. Craig if you’re reading this FIX YOUR SPAM FILTERS!
It’s a true blog nonetheless? I’m not sure what definition of blog we are all supposed to use. I suppose from a traditional and legal definition, it might be considered a blog, in that comments are allowed and the posts are in date order (newest to oldest).
But in any 2007-2008 definition, it most definitely is not a blog. No RSS Feed? It’s not some kind of advanced option, Craig. It’s part of the structure.
And by the way, as some have already pointed out, is there some retarded thinking at Craigslist that disavows the use of any open-source (ahem! free?) blogging system like Wordpress, et. al.?
As Marshall stated, the code is a living breathing 1990’s table-based nightmare. No Doctype, all HTML 4 (that’s right, HTML – not XHTML), no meta tags. Did he do it in FrontPage 98?
But, in true Craigslist fashion to prevent scraping, he did take time to put a copyright in the footer, lest anyone want to steal that killer design. And yes, the copyright symbol was nicely encoded “as is” right into the code. No ampersand encoding for you. Very quaint!
i made a feed for the blog, i couldn’t take it anymore:
http://feed43.c.../craigslist.xml
The look is lame, but I’m more concerned about the content. It seems less like a blog and more like a list of press releases. None of this stuff isn’t already out there in multiples, and the language reeks of marketing-speak. I’ll pass.
I see they have gone with the traditional “no frills” approach again… at least its consistent.
Yes, they really need to pick themselves up from the look. It’s horrible!! Somehow feels like they’re just throwing their energy around trying to look good, but it doesn’t come out right at the end. Well, brush up on their content, and I might consider seeing it again.
Fara – http://www.pickmeuptoday.com
It’s heard to keep up with the rapid developments at Craigslist. I never would have known (nor cared about) Craigslist’s epic feature.
oops…*hard
Craiglists design appears to be stuck in 1995. And their blog follows right along.
I appreciate a minimalist approach, but that doesn’t mean it has to be ugly or without “basic functions” (rss? hello?). Sad…
You may think it is a ‘real blog’ but it is horrible, horrible, horrible. Whos is that grinning guy on the front page? What sort of a comments section is that? Who writes this turgid tosh? What is the point? Some of my best friends are blogs, this aint no blog …
Better late than never!!
I hate craigslist, they suck!!! Not even a RSS!! F U craigslist, you guys are supposed to be professional!!
-Michael http://mikesmon...ub.blogspot.com
Craigslist is about content not style: that’s the whole point, no? I think the format and look is fitting for the brand, which relays a no no-nonsense, been-here-forever-taking-care-of-business attitude. Good work.
–Writer, Rejected
http://www.lite...ay.blogspot.com
Since the free online classified is getting popular, many business owners are seeking every single free marketing channel to help boost the sale, http://www.boxforyou.com is another free classifieds site like craigslist, allow you to buy & sell new or used goods, look for a car or job, find local events… promote your business, and you can do it all for free!
Looks like Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster is a bit peeved that somebody has a better blog than them. This is a very compelling story and will be closely watched. I don’t think CL has a leg to stand on.
Read the story…
http://www.thel...id-the-blogger/
the monster.com truck post is remarkable – http://blog.cra....org/#desperate
remember craigslist is a job board…
Yeah, their look is …….. yikes.
check out a cool craigslist mashup http://clhack.com it sure beats the beat up UI of craigslist
Looking for comments on my new site (be nice)
http://craigsli...s.blogspot.com/ here is a nice helpful blog
Great blog,we do sell PVAS,please check more details bout Carigslist Phone verified accounts-PVAs here
http://www.ovxs...ons.com/PVA.htm
The Craig’s List Blog is a joke. It’s a one-sided rant. I posted a comment with an opposing view and they moderated it off the comments.
Craigslist is an amazing service and is a symbol of the power of the web.