I'm not going to make much of a diary today as I have to attend an Oracle Open House event with a friend in Emeryville.
However, I just have to say, what is going on with Craigslist these days? Is Craig Newmark just absolutely INSANE?
I used to like Craigslist. It would be a great source for applying for positions, looking for apartments, even occasionally getting dates and touching base with others on meeting at certain places.
However, aside from job postings, Craigslist's reputation has really gone downhill lately, maybe for a long time but in the past few months and recent years, the site has undergone a transformation that is pretty ugly:
1) More ads are separating different job postings
2) Just as many scammers and nuts are using Craigslist as before.
3) The layout and functionality for posting articles is just awkward, even though the process to post things is getting better.
There are additional facts:
Craigslist is no longer the reliable source it used to be. Noting the history of flakes who say they're going to an event posted on Craigslist but never show up, more people are turning to Meetup as it's more transparent and more interactive. Eventbrite is also the go-to place for events, whether industry, networking or even community events in general. I used to be able to get some dates off Craigslist, even good ones, for free but those people or others have flocked to Meetup, Stir events via Match.com and other sources.
Anyway, I welcome any of you to vent or discuss Craigslist. Supposedly Craig Newmark is progressive but I just don't see that anymore. Sorry Craig but you can't keep Craigslist in just a simple bulletin board format anymore. You're losing customers.