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The Craigslist Effect
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the question is...
Posted by
kpaul mallasch
5/4/2005 2:28:42 AM
The question is, if Craigslist is so primitive (and I agree that it is somewhat), why do people flock to it? Why is it so...
The question is, if Craigslist is so primitive (and I agree that it is somewhat), why do people flock to it? Why is it so successful that newspapers are commisioning studies on it?
Something to ponder.
What to do?
Posted by
Mike Gordon
5/2/2005 5:25:51 PM
Grey Garvin said he wouldn't even bother to check to see if his local paper's free ads were more user-friendly than craiglist. Not a surprising...
Grey Garvin said he wouldn't even bother to check to see if his local paper's free ads were more user-friendly than craiglist. Not a surprising reaction from a craigslist fan, but actually, it'd be drop-dead simple to be more user-friendly than craigslist, whose functionality is five years out of date. For example, you can search on craigslist -- but you can't sort or refine the results. That's just retarded.
Grey mentions that craigslist users are cool. True today, but it'll dilute over time as more people discover it ... and if it doesn't, if craigslist continues to attract only true believers, its growth potential is limited.
Craigslist is not 10 feet tall. It's a functionally primitive site with early-mover advantage and an enthusiastic community. The last is possibly its only sustainable advantage. I would not assume it will remain the market leader. Neither Google nor Microsoft have been heard from on the classifieds front yet.
about "free" ads
Posted by
Grey Garvin
5/2/2005 2:44:05 PM
I agree that Craig's List is killing newspaper classifieds...but I really don't see a way out of it for newspapers.
I've been depending on Cr...
I agree that Craig's List is killing newspaper classifieds...but I really don't see a way out of it for newspapers.
I've been depending on Craig's List since 1997 when I lived on the west coast....now i live east coast and still visit weekly - I buy & sell, find babysitters, check out events, purchase tickets, you name it.
Okay, so say my local newspaper offered free ads starting tomorrow. It wouldn't make a whit of difference to me. I would assume that it wouldn't be as user-friendly as CL (and I wouldn't even check to see if that was true...it's such a strongly held belief that I wouldn't look into it). But the bigger point is that the readers aren't as good....çraig's list readers are cool..they have the same values...you feel like you're among friends on Craig's List. A newspaper...why anyone could be there.
And that's why I truly can't see a way out for newspapers.
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