TimmyHWARNING: Craigslist Cometh
April 3rd 2008 04:22
Australia was a little behind the rest of the world, especially North America when it came to the MySpace/Facebook and YouTube revolutions of last past few years. If this trend is anything to go by, a dramatic increase in the number of "Craigslist" users will most likely be seen in the coming months.
"Craigslist" is an online classifieds site which offers users the ability to post ads to buy or sell items as well as a diverse range of discussion topics. But perhaps the most important features are the rental and employment listings. In Canada, "Craigslist" is the most used website for jobseekers and boasts better job board effectiveness than dot coms Monster and Careerbuilder. While in the US it is the preferred source of short and long term housing and accomodation.
But the real advantage for users is in the membership fees. There aren't any. While eBay insists on claiming credit card details and markets itself as a safe online shopping alternative, Craiglist perfroms at least as well in terms of search proficiency (though not yet in Australia) and does not require any identification other than an email address for users to post items or services.
This does present problems of accountability with annonymous listings, as was demonstrated on the 22nd of this month when a couple was able to commit robbery by posting that the content's of another person's house were to be given away to the first people on the scene. The helpless onlooker watched as trucks and cars pulled up hours later to remove his belongings from the premises. As of now the couple has been charged but not all the possessions have been recovered.
While the website does allow user feedback to eliminate erroneous posts and regulate itself this sort of behaviour will inevitably be the risk the user takes when visiting the site. However given the high rate of user retention it does not seem at present to be doing the website too much harm.
Though only the capital cities are listed on the website at present this should change swiftly with user take up. Expect Craiglist to be the next big Aussie Internet fad, with Generation Y leading the charge.
"Craigslist" is an online classifieds site which offers users the ability to post ads to buy or sell items as well as a diverse range of discussion topics. But perhaps the most important features are the rental and employment listings. In Canada, "Craigslist" is the most used website for jobseekers and boasts better job board effectiveness than dot coms Monster and Careerbuilder. While in the US it is the preferred source of short and long term housing and accomodation.
But the real advantage for users is in the membership fees. There aren't any. While eBay insists on claiming credit card details and markets itself as a safe online shopping alternative, Craiglist perfroms at least as well in terms of search proficiency (though not yet in Australia) and does not require any identification other than an email address for users to post items or services.
This does present problems of accountability with annonymous listings, as was demonstrated on the 22nd of this month when a couple was able to commit robbery by posting that the content's of another person's house were to be given away to the first people on the scene. The helpless onlooker watched as trucks and cars pulled up hours later to remove his belongings from the premises. As of now the couple has been charged but not all the possessions have been recovered.
While the website does allow user feedback to eliminate erroneous posts and regulate itself this sort of behaviour will inevitably be the risk the user takes when visiting the site. However given the high rate of user retention it does not seem at present to be doing the website too much harm.
Though only the capital cities are listed on the website at present this should change swiftly with user take up. Expect Craiglist to be the next big Aussie Internet fad, with Generation Y leading the charge.
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