Power Freaks

This week I decided to discuss the underlying "power freaks" who moderate craigslist.org. When one of my ads was "flagged for removal", I was instructed to visit help forum. Upon visting the help forum, I found the help forum was not very helpful, and moderated by "power freaks", I suppose I should define a "power freak". A "power freak" in computer terms, is a person with a considerable amount of knowledge in a particular topic or subject that uses their knowledge not to help others, but as a display of greatness and power. As an example, it was once common in the Linux community to respond to new user questions with, "Read the F***** Manual". However, as the Linux community continues to grow, more and more people are experiencing the helpful attitude that is now a monument of the Linux community: kindness towards others.

My early impressions of craigslist.org can be categorized as good vs evil: the FREE craigslist.org was combating the evil newspaper conglomerates who monopolized the classified advertising industry for years. However, upon searching for help in the craigslist's forum, I was unpleasantly surprised that craigslist allowed power freaks to run the help forums. As an example, here is the response to a question regarding why an ad was flagged for removal (not my ad),

"You don't know much about craigslist < --- > 07/02 23:11:40

You're obligated by the terms of use (that you agreed to and hopefully read) to flag inappropriate ads.

Your ad sucked worse than theirs for some reason. Aren't you curious what that reason could be? ".

I'm not sure how stating, "your ad sucked" is helpful in knowing why the ad was flagged. Imagine calling the newspaper and asking why your ad was not published, and being told it's because your ad sucks. Here is another example of an answer to the same question, "why was my add flagged for removal".

"in all cases:

suggestions for improvement to our system are extremely important & needed.

however, please don't ask for an explanation of why your individual posting was removed -- 'cause we don't have one!

thanks!"

If I understand this post, craigslist recognizes the need for suggestions to improve the site, but is not willing to improve their system by providing an explanation of why an ad was removed! Well, enough with the examples, you can read the rest if you like at http://forums.craigslist.org/?forumID=3

Although craigslist.org is a FREE service, does this mean the newer users should not receive helpful customer service? I think craigslist.org is a great service for connecting buyers and sellers, an online garage sale if you will. However, craigslist definitely needs to improve it's customer service by first and foremost removing the power freaks, and providing an adequate explanation of why an ad was removed. As a proactive measure, maybe craigslist should list the top 10 reasons why an ad is removed before allowing the user to submit an ad. Of course, if you want to find out why your ad was removed, you can always ask in the forum, but don't be surprised if your question is answered with, Read the Terms of Service! Does anyone actually read the Terms of Service?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Please send your comments to troythetechguy@gmail.com

Have a great week!