Craigslist Boston
If you want to list certain things that have grown way, way beyond the expectations of their creators, Craigslist will be a sure-shot feature in that list. From a simple "e-mail list of events in San Francisco" to a whopping presence in over 450 cities across the world today, Craigslists present a phenomenon that is mind-boggling! And, to realize that all this has taken just over a decade to be what it is right now is even more astonishing!
Craigslists provide classifieds service in simple text format on the net. Except for the job postings (that too, only in certain cities) and brokered apartment postings in New York, the portal is free from fee. Craigslists enjoy page views in the range of over 5 billion per month and has a user base of over 10 million. It is one of the most used classifieds service in any medium, in the U.S.
Craiglist Boston:
Year 2000 was when Craigslist made its entry into Boston. It was because of the efforts of one Meryl Bralower that the Boston edition of Craigslist was launched, with an office at Boston. But now, the branch operations of Craigslist are maintained from its headquarters at San Francisco itself.
The main categories under which information is posted are:
• Community (14)
• Personals (9)
• Housing (9)
• For sale (25)
• Services (14)
• Jobs (25)
• Gigs (9)
• Resumes
Each of these categories has numerous sub-categories (in brackets above) under which you can place your postings or find the one you are looking for. Apart from this, Craigslist, Boston hosts discussion forums on as many as 54 different topics. The topics are as varied as arts, politics, women, history, outdoor, fix it etc. Region specific search can be carried out with respect to 5 different locations in Boston. The regions are:
• Boston / Camb / Brook
• Northwest / Merrimack
• Metro West
• North shore and
• South shore
Users of Bostons Craigslist can get connected to Craiglists of all other cities easily. The websites of all Craigslist cities in the U.S as well as the cities across the globe can be accessed right from the homepage of Bostons Craigslist.
Job postings in Bostons Craigslist cost the users $25 per posting. Twenty five different categories of jobs (e.g. health care jobs, human resource jobs, writing / editing jobs, government jobs etc.) are already present. Users can also suggest a new category and the same may be added by the company.
Managing this huge network in 450 cities from a single location (San Francisco), with an employee base of just 20+ is no doubt, a herculean task. The company has achieved all this by empowering its users to carry out the job of posting, reposting, flagging of inappropriate ads and other such operations, by providing a highly user-friendly interface. Another factor that sets Craigslist apart is the fact that users need not have to register themselves for using the services of Craigslist, which bestows them anonymity. And, the users who use Craigslists Forum find it an immensely satisfying experience to voice their views to a huge audience. Since buying and selling is not carried out on a continuous basis by any one, Forums also do the task of keeping the users under the umbrella of Craigslist community even when theyre not trying to sell or buy something. A great binding element there!
Format and Philosophy:
Craigslist was the outcome of the founders intent to connect to the community. A lot goes on in the society based on trust, friendship and because of the word of mouth. For Mr. Craig Newmark, a computer professional working for Charles Schwab during mid 90s, sending e-mail list of cool events organized in San Francisco to his friends was a hobby. This was very well received by his friends and word about the utility of these lists spread far and wide; many people started reaping the benefits of that list. And, the categories in the list and the list itself started snowballing. All this was done strictly on a non-commercial basis. The founder had just mirrored the friendly and helping nature of the community in his listing. And, to this day Craigslists operate largely on non-commercial basis.
Restoring the human voice to the internet, in a humane and non-commercial environment is how the company states its goal. Text-only is the format adopted by the company, for presenting its lists. And, the company has said a clear NO to sponsored advertisements on the page and also, the company doesnt promote itself anywhere either. According to the founder, making money is not a prime concern for the company. The company is firmly rooted to a simple and fast format in line with the philosophy that the list is just a simulation of the trustworthy community that we are a part of. Through Craigslist Foundation, the company takes up causes that really matter to the community as a whole.
Moving into or out of Boston:
Then, Craigslist is the site you ought to visit. Apart from job postings, the users who derive the most out of Craigslist are the people who post wanted or for sale ads. So, anybody moving into or out of Boston (and, for that matter, any city that has its own Craigslist) can either dispose off used goods or buy used goods; can get to know the new city they are moving into, better; search for a soul mate .with the Craigslist acting as a common pal; .In essence, the online community plays the role of a facilitator, in case you dont have a comfortable, real community around, to help you settle down!
Craigslist has become a household name around the world. Arent you a part of the Craigslist community yet
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