Craigslist Etiquette Part III: Personals

Craigslist Etiquette

Part III: Personals

In this third and final installment of the "Craigslist Etiquette" interview series, Craig Newmark sets the record straight about the Craigslist Personals category...

Urban-Etiquette:
Is it safe to say that basically the entire Personals section is "Not Safe for Work" (NSFW)?

Craig Newmark:
That actually depends upon the section. For example, "Men Seeking Men" (m2m) often has the most complaints, whereas "Women Seeking Women" (w2w) may actually be the best self-policing section on the entire site.

Is it good etiquette to include a photo of oneself along with a personals post?
Depends on the specific situation. For example, if you’re trying to connect with others based upon what you're about, maybe start with words and follow with photos later on.

What about including photos of, say, other relevant body parts?
Off hand, uh - I’d say it’s probably a bad idea.

Or a photo from five years ago?
Or ten?! This also goes back to the Golden Rule: treat people like you want to be treated, remembering that different people have different sensitivities and ideas about what’s okay.

Are inappropriate photos flagged the most?
There are actually bigger problems than photos that are not safe for work and users consistently tell us to prioritize.

Especially because some of the ugliest things I’ve seen were actually over in the discussion forums. People sometimes get a little nasty with each other, which bothers me more.

So we have a, uh, *ahem* friend who wanted to, er - that is - this friend of ours wanted us to ask:
There's a section for “Jobs” and a section for “Casual Encounters,” but what if I wanted to get a job...IN casual encounters?
Well if it's a job doing that, then it sounds illegal and we definitely don’t want it on the site!

Craigslist Etiquette, Part II: For Sale

Craigslist Etiquette

Part II: For Sale

In this second installment of Craig Newmark's "Craigslist Etiquette" interview series, Craig enlightens Urban-Etiquette.net readers to considerate mannerisms in the Craigslist For Sale category...


Urban-Etiquette:
It's super-annoying how some people respond to a sales listing once, and then disappear completely. Do you think people should provide “closure” after expressing interest or is it acceptable etiquette to simply disappear?

Craig Newmark:
This definitely falls under the umbrella of "treating others as you want to be treated," which I interpret as: Yes, you should close the loop. Don’t leave people hanging.

In real life however, it is sometimes hard to do that. And remember: email is not a completely reliable form of communication!

Other bad manners we've observed on the site include:
Misleading sales descriptions or postings for items that were already sold but not taken down
Again, Golden Rule – here I’d say that means that you should be honest in your ads

Third-party solicitors offering to “help” sell a high-ticket item in exchange for a percentage of the sale price
When it comes to being solicited in any manner, there are a number of gray areas. But if you’re approaching someone other than in the way they indicated then that even gets into deceptive advertising or spam.

We're faced with challenge of running open and democratic system. There are very few bad people but there are bad people.

It's like what Jon Stewart says: you hear more from extremists because moderates actually have stuff to do!


Any other etiquette tips for the Sales section?
Some of the ones I hear most users are:

• Don't post in all capital letters
• Remove listings when they are settled
  
• And if you commit to selling something, follow through with it! Even if someone else comes through with a higher offer.

Thanks for clarifying that Craig.

Now that it's official, message to Craigslist poster "SoxRoxr36:"
Why you didn't call us when we was 'posed to swap for those Carrot Top tickets, man?? Ain't right. Just ain't right.

Craigslist Etiquette by Craig Newmark, Part I

After a whopping 13 years online, Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.org, still answers user e-mails directly as a part of the customer service team. That means that he not only wrote the book on the quick-and-dirty online classified ad community, but he's also its veteran editor.

Since Craigslist caters mostly to city-dwellers, we asked Craig to lay down the law for Urban-Etiquette.net readers and stake out some official...

Craigslist Etiquette

(Part I of III)

The entirety of proper Craigslist etiquette falls under Craig's take on The Golden Rule:
"Treat people like you want to be treated." The Craig himself was kind enough to break that down for us...

Urban-Etiquette:
What is it about CL that attracts so many visitors?
Craig Newmark:
We have this culture of trust – based on that golden rule – and our site is simple and effective.

What is the most-misused part of the site?
Oh, I don’t know! So much of the removal is automatic, so I don’t have a chance to see that. We focus less on what is being abused and more on ensuring that users have the power to remove abuse.





Top user complaint:
Spam.






Speaking of, is that “flagging” system of self-policing as effective at deterring spam and inappropriate postings as you would like it to be?
We need it to be better, but we’re working on it. The intent is to get way ahead of the curve.

Are you able to offer any insight into how the system works such as: are there are certain number of flags required before CL staff will review a post?
There is actually no monitoring involved from the Craigslist end. It is all automated. If enough people flag an ad, it is automatically removed.

Has CL ever had to ban people?
Now and then we do block people, as best we can. Some people are severely abusive one way or another and when reasoning with them doesn’t work, they simply have to go.

What is the BEST thing about running a site like Craigslist?
The general feeling is that we’re helping millions of people out with everyday stuff.


The Three Biggest Craigslist Community Faux-Pas:
3. Uninformed Debate
Sometimes people repeat misinformation propagated by a public source, such as those who pass along false info from shady politicians. Stating information as though it is true without finding out from a credible source also touches on the idea of spreading rumors without verification: another big Craigslist no-no.

2. Misrepresentation
Users sometimes try to pass one thing off as another or even misrepresent who they are. For example: on the New York page, brokers and agents often post to the Owners’ section – not realizing that this is really out-of-line.

1. Over-posting
An extremely common problem is posting far more than guidelines allow - such as posting the same things in different sections and re-posting over and over to bump a listing up.


Craig Says:

• "Every category in every city has own culture, so look around at what the acceptable standards are and then just be consistent."
• "Basically, I just trust people to do what’s right for them and those around them."

Since he's too nice to be so crass, we'll do it for him:

Don't be a dick.

Apartment Living 101: Loud Music

Music is a beautiful thing. But not at 4 in the morning.

Unless you own your own place, that is. Then wail away, Hendrix.

But if your humble abode is attached to other abodes of humbleness, you should know better than to rock Madonna's latest single after bar time.

You should. But since you don't, let us lay it on ya:

DO:
Play your music...and play it out loud!

DO NOT:
Play music (recording OR instruments!) at high decibels and inappropriate times.

We're not going to spell it out any further here. This one you can figure out. Weekends are generally cool and understandable, but 3 a.m. on a weekend night is still not kosher as christmas you jag-off.

So the next time you come stumbling from the bar, go straight to your bathroom medicine cabinet and open it. There you will find the note you wrote yourself saying:

Check the time.
If after midnight,
No drunken renditions of
Johnny Cash on the
Un-tuned guitar!

While you're in there, grab two Ibuprofen (you'll thank us tomorrow) and then head over to your Guitar Hero instead.

Douchebag-tastics!

It's Friday so we wanted to send a little shout-out to the guy you will see everywhere; the quintessential chode who continues to provide fodder for humorists everywhere:

The Douchebag.

Bobby Quick related a first-person close call earlier this week and due to that post and other repeated references to various instances of douchebaggery, reader-fan RexManningDay and even the good folk over at The Phat Phree provided the following to help us commemorate the infamy of The Chaach and his economy-sized bag of douche...

No account on this subject would be complete without an excerpt from the original, most eloquently- and hilariously-written accounts of Le Douche: Look At My Striped Shirt!

Look at my button down striped shirt! Fucking look at it! This shirt means one thing! I'm coming home with some pussy tonight! That's right! It's been a long week at the office and it's time to blow off a little steam! I am a Junior Vice President! I have business cards that say "Junior Vice President" on them! They're glossy and magnificent! Here! Have one! Take it!

My boys are coming out with me tonight! They all have striped shirts too!

I figure we'll kick off the night with some Golden Tee! I am going to smack the shit out of that little white ball! It's going to be so fucking loud! I'll bet I can drive that pretend golf ball 600 fucking yards tonight! I'm that fucking pumped!I can almost taste those Jager Bombs right now! I fucking love Red Bull! I put it on my God damned cereal! I'm crushing one right now!

I'm thinking about buying a boat this year!I'm gonna fight someone tonight! I pray to God someone makes eye contact with me! I will beat his ass! And God help him if he gets any blood on my striped shirt! If he does, I'll scrub it out with his dick and some bleach! I mean it!

I'm gonna grind on girls asses tonight! You heard me! When I see a group of girls dancing in a circle, I will select the most attractive one and dry hump her until it hurts! I will rub my cock against her so that she can feel my throbbing hard on!

I will valet tonight!

I will treat the valet with contempt and make sure that he knows that I am superior to him in life! I will tell him to "Take it easy on the brakes, Champ"!

See the full, original material at: ThePhatPhree.com

RexManningDay had this to contribute, which rings true in far too many ways:



So when you're out tonight after having worked for the weekend, pay you no mind to the popped-collars, pom-aded-to-hell hairspikes, conch-shell necklaces, man-bracelets (macelets?) and general douchebagarino-osity surrounding you. Just snap a quick cell phone photo, send it in to us (or to HotChicksWithDouchebags.com) and enjoy the show.

Oh, and a word of advice: if after copious amounts of drinks you somehow find yourself at John Barleycorn or Estelle's...run like hell!

Happy Friday,
~Chucklyn

Top 5 Reasons to Buy Lunch (not bring it to the office)

Top Five Reasons to Purchase Lunch Anew Each Day:
(rather than bringing it and storing it in the nasty communal fridge)

1. That mystery meat sandwich in the back of the office fridge crept closer to your yogurt since you last looked...30 seconds ago.

2. Someone keeps stealing the best item in all of the packed lunches. Pretttttty sure it's Joel in accounts receivable, but alas - no proof. Even checked fingers for Hostess Cupcake remnants and cubicle trash can for Twinkie wrappers...no dice.

3. That smell. Dear God, that smell!
Who's job is it to clean the office refrigerator? Oh yeah...nobody's.

4. Tired of rearranging the 56 items all over again just so a leftover muffaletta will fit.

5. Not having to put your effing name on everything!

*Photo courtesy of PassiveAgressiveNotes.com

Men's Bathroom Etiquette

Some uber-creative-types literally illustrated the finer points of Men's Bathroom Etiquette using some Sims characters to act it out and it's hilarious - enjoy!

It's Hawaiian Shirt Day in the Urb-Et offices...which means, of course, Tequila!!
If you cannot see the video, here's the full link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzO1mCAVyMw