in stark contrast with craigslist's approach (claim you want to help people but do as few improvements as you can get away with and don't let anybody else do it... not even if they would do it for free...), Facebook asks *anybody anywhere* to improve it... AND they are welcome to make money...
Delia
P.S. besides, it is a superior advertising medium (it has superb built in controls, meaning no spam etc. -- my comment) D.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
(according to Craig but NOT to the craigslist webpage) Nancy Melone was never craigslist's CEO...
EVEN MORE
MORE
............
re: "She called herself the CEO, but Newmark said she never had that title."
well... see for yourself...
MORE
............
re: "She called herself the CEO, but Newmark said she never had that title."
(end of third paragraph under "Craig's Miffed")
well... see for yourself...
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
(help forum) "well drug dealing and prostitution are ok here..."
notice only one of the "helpers" challenged that ... (sorry about not noticing that post before) -- still it is presented as common knowledge...D.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Donna falls into Craig's trap... *again*...
EVEN MORE: Oh... and poor Matt is also sold on the spiel! and not just temporarily... (he actually rushed to introduce himself to Craig! -- middle of second paragraph). This whole thing is going to be sooo funny when people finally wake up... :) D.
MORE: Sadly, Donna is not the only groupie-like journalist interviewing Craig -- take a look at NBC's Jamie, for instance -- it's hard to see how she could have come up with a more favorable report towards Craig/craigslist would he have paid her for it! : she does bring up some criticism but she simply states the issues that others have brought up and... moves on... well, even worse... as a counter to craigslist criticism she actually offers craiglist's claim that "the company says it is aggressive about criminal use and pornography" (3.54 minute mark) -- oh, really? they say that? now, isn't that nice? ... and objective! (sounds like Craig's own press... all over again...)
re: " Newmark reiterated the Craigslist contention that his namesake free classifieds site is not the cause of a decline in print classifieds revenues, given that Craigslist postings are generally “new” listings, not displacement listings.
In other words, Craigslist classifieds postings would not exist, anywhere, if Craigslist did not exist."
So what if plenty of craigslist ads would not exist elsewhere -- enough of them would! Again, Craig is not necessarily lying (notice he uses "generally"), just being vague and ambiguous as usual and his clueless admirer (who is a journalist, of all things) walks straight into his trap… again, not at all unusual…
Delia
P.S. although I’m beginning to think Craig could tell Donna the Earth is flat and she would dutifully report it…:)
P.P.S. BTW, Craig has previously acknowledged craigslist has "same effect on newspaper classifieds" -- it's hard to believe Donna was not aware of this... (4.09 minute mark) D.
MORE: Sadly, Donna is not the only groupie-like journalist interviewing Craig -- take a look at NBC's Jamie, for instance -- it's hard to see how she could have come up with a more favorable report towards Craig/craigslist would he have paid her for it! : she does bring up some criticism but she simply states the issues that others have brought up and... moves on... well, even worse... as a counter to craigslist criticism she actually offers craiglist's claim that "the company says it is aggressive about criminal use and pornography" (3.54 minute mark) -- oh, really? they say that? now, isn't that nice? ... and objective! (sounds like Craig's own press... all over again...)
re: " Newmark reiterated the Craigslist contention that his namesake free classifieds site is not the cause of a decline in print classifieds revenues, given that Craigslist postings are generally “new” listings, not displacement listings.
In other words, Craigslist classifieds postings would not exist, anywhere, if Craigslist did not exist."
So what if plenty of craigslist ads would not exist elsewhere -- enough of them would! Again, Craig is not necessarily lying (notice he uses "generally"), just being vague and ambiguous as usual and his clueless admirer (who is a journalist, of all things) walks straight into his trap… again, not at all unusual…
Delia
P.S. although I’m beginning to think Craig could tell Donna the Earth is flat and she would dutifully report it…:)
P.P.S. BTW, Craig has previously acknowledged craigslist has "same effect on newspaper classifieds" -- it's hard to believe Donna was not aware of this... (4.09 minute mark) D.
(inadequate customer service) nowhere enough customer service people...
follow-up for Don:
#1: "Craigslist does a pretty good job at customer service" --> I suggest you do some research before believing their PR...
#2: "You can never please everyone and resolve every issue no matter how many CS people you have."
so... because you can never do a perfect job at it, it's ok to just spend as little as you can get away with on customer service and pocket the "savings"? (it's ok to turn into a cash cow after asking people what you could charge for *to pay the bills*?)
Delia
P.S. craigslist is a very special case given its history and its claims (I don't think it can be compared with Napster or Google, in terms of what it owes the community that helped built it, develop it and spread it) D.
Hi Don!
Seems like there's no way to meet the customer service needs (given the volume) with the number of people craigslist has...(and 24 is the *total* number -- it's probably only about half of that for the "customer service team")
Any thoughts on that? Thanks!
Delia
#1: "Craigslist does a pretty good job at customer service" --> I suggest you do some research before believing their PR...
#2: "You can never please everyone and resolve every issue no matter how many CS people you have."
so... because you can never do a perfect job at it, it's ok to just spend as little as you can get away with on customer service and pocket the "savings"? (it's ok to turn into a cash cow after asking people what you could charge for *to pay the bills*?)
Delia
P.S. craigslist is a very special case given its history and its claims (I don't think it can be compared with Napster or Google, in terms of what it owes the community that helped built it, develop it and spread it) D.
Hi Don!
Seems like there's no way to meet the customer service needs (given the volume) with the number of people craigslist has...(and 24 is the *total* number -- it's probably only about half of that for the "customer service team")
Any thoughts on that? Thanks!
Delia
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
craigslist gives away around 1% of revenue? ooh, my...
MORE: this means that how much craigslist contributs to the foundation (I'm assuming this is public info given that Ryan seems to have been able to get it) is good info to have...-- multiplying it by 100 should give a good idea of current revenues
........................
how generous for an organization that was supposed to be a non-profit!
Jim:" We give away at least 1% of revenue"
(2nd page, 2nd question)
again... take a look at what Ryan said about it in his "craig$list.com" article in the SFWeekly...
That "category" allows Newmark to keep the domain Craigslist.org, a name that gives the false impression that the site is a nonprofit, by using ".org," an extension almost exclusively used by nonprofit companies and foundations. Craigslist's marketing materials call this "a symbol of our service mission and non-corporate culture." Craigslist.com, which the company also owns, draws far less traffic.) It permits Newmark to use the word "non-commercial" twice on Craigslist's "Mission and History" page, and to bury the phrase "No charges, except for job postings" in the third line from the bottom. It means establishing a separate nonprofit, the Craigslist Foundation, which trains other nonprofits in marketing, technology, and fundraising skills, but makes no grants, has no endowment, and charges for many of its training events. This year, Craigslist will provide less than half of the foundation's $240,000 budget.
(forth page, fifth paragraph from bottom)
Delia
P.S. Jim appears to be talking about the craigslist foundation
........................
how generous for an organization that was supposed to be a non-profit!
Jim:" We give away at least 1% of revenue"
(2nd page, 2nd question)
again... take a look at what Ryan said about it in his "craig$list.com" article in the SFWeekly...
That "category" allows Newmark to keep the domain Craigslist.org, a name that gives the false impression that the site is a nonprofit, by using ".org," an extension almost exclusively used by nonprofit companies and foundations. Craigslist's marketing materials call this "a symbol of our service mission and non-corporate culture." Craigslist.com, which the company also owns, draws far less traffic.) It permits Newmark to use the word "non-commercial" twice on Craigslist's "Mission and History" page, and to bury the phrase "No charges, except for job postings" in the third line from the bottom. It means establishing a separate nonprofit, the Craigslist Foundation, which trains other nonprofits in marketing, technology, and fundraising skills, but makes no grants, has no endowment, and charges for many of its training events. This year, Craigslist will provide less than half of the foundation's $240,000 budget.
(forth page, fifth paragraph from bottom)
Delia
P.S. Jim appears to be talking about the craigslist foundation
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
(inadequate customer service) Jim, you know damn well you don't need to make any MORE money...
re: Jim, answering to a question from the audience: " it's not necessary for us to look for ways to make more money in order to hire people..." (first question from the audience, fifth paragraph from the end of the interview)
no it ain't! -- you've got tens of millions in profits... remember? you should be ashamed of yourselves to spend as little as you can get away with on customer service, of all things -- the stuff you rave about ... remember? (and don't get me started on the goofy PR you seemed to have picked-up from Craig... you know what's going on Jim -- you are NOT brain dead!)
Delia
P.S. looks like people are waking up -- sadly, it's not the journalists but the people from the audience who ask real questions and unfortunately they are usually not allowed follow-up questions... still... looks like an improvement! D.
no it ain't! -- you've got tens of millions in profits... remember? you should be ashamed of yourselves to spend as little as you can get away with on customer service, of all things -- the stuff you rave about ... remember? (and don't get me started on the goofy PR you seemed to have picked-up from Craig... you know what's going on Jim -- you are NOT brain dead!)
Delia
P.S. looks like people are waking up -- sadly, it's not the journalists but the people from the audience who ask real questions and unfortunately they are usually not allowed follow-up questions... still... looks like an improvement! D.
Monday, May 14, 2007
So... why aren't entrepreneur types denouncing Craig?
MORE: here's the paragraph I wanted you to see:
Jimmy, in the Orlando Sentinel, by way of popmatters.com
“Like Craig, I built Wikia to serve communities, and if we take care of them, they will build it into something big and money will be made, and that is fine” (fifth paragraph from bottom)
... well, I wouldn't be so sure...:) that people would be willing to just pitch in and build somebody else's empire... and it's certainly presumptuous to speak for them and declare that they would be "fine" with your being the one collecting the money from the "something big" they built...
get away from Craig, Jimmy! he's a bad influence... you've got plenty of money as it is... if you MUST make more start a completely unrelated thing (and do it straight and honest) -- it's really not worth it to tarnish your Wikipedia legacy for some money you don't need... D.
.............
They know what's going on -- they know it cannot be for real... that when you look at the fundamentals things just don't add up! My suspicion is that they figure ... why kill the golden goose if it may lay a golden egg on their lap also? “
Delia
P.S. I think we will see more and more Craig-like personas trying to cash in on the concept-- take a look at Gabe Rivera or even Jimmy Wales... (in the context of Wikia )
P.P.S. will there be some that will do it for real? I would hope so... the closest to this that I'm aware of is Jay Rosen (his long term financial plans for NewAssignment) D.
Jimmy, in the Orlando Sentinel, by way of popmatters.com
“Like Craig, I built Wikia to serve communities, and if we take care of them, they will build it into something big and money will be made, and that is fine” (fifth paragraph from bottom)
... well, I wouldn't be so sure...:) that people would be willing to just pitch in and build somebody else's empire... and it's certainly presumptuous to speak for them and declare that they would be "fine" with your being the one collecting the money from the "something big" they built...
get away from Craig, Jimmy! he's a bad influence... you've got plenty of money as it is... if you MUST make more start a completely unrelated thing (and do it straight and honest) -- it's really not worth it to tarnish your Wikipedia legacy for some money you don't need... D.
.............
They know what's going on -- they know it cannot be for real... that when you look at the fundamentals things just don't add up! My suspicion is that they figure ... why kill the golden goose if it may lay a golden egg on their lap also? “
Delia
P.S. I think we will see more and more Craig-like personas trying to cash in on the concept-- take a look at Gabe Rivera or even Jimmy Wales... (in the context of Wikia )
P.P.S. will there be some that will do it for real? I would hope so... the closest to this that I'm aware of is Jay Rosen (his long term financial plans for NewAssignment) D.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
All smoke and mirrors...
MORE: see also: (inadequate customer service) frustrated users...; (inadequate customer service): (mis)handling abuse; a hefty cash cow..., (inadequate customer service) just how frustrated do users get?; truth is: staff is overwhelmed!; Craig's buzzwords; Rethink again!; Craig's philanthropy (don't hold your breath...) (Steven Pearcy's story) ... or if you have time just hang out in feedback/help/flag and see for yourself...
re: interwoven podcast
a rudimentary check of the fundamentals would show that craigslist's customer service needs couldn't possibly be met given its extreme under staffing and enormous volume (it just cannot be done -- "the Emperor has no clothes" -- , like somebody said in the feedback forum.., and no, I couldn't find the quote... again...) D.
re: interwoven podcast
a rudimentary check of the fundamentals would show that craigslist's customer service needs couldn't possibly be met given its extreme under staffing and enormous volume (it just cannot be done -- "the Emperor has no clothes" -- , like somebody said in the feedback forum.., and no, I couldn't find the quote... again...) D.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
what business plan?
MORE: more detail in the bottom paragraph
it just so happens that when a local market matures... they start charging!
(San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Seattle, San Diego… etc.)
it just so happens that when a local market matures... they start charging!
(San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Seattle, San Diego… etc.)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Craig is laughing... (all the way to the bank!)
re: “To call what we have a business model ... is laughable.”
(third paragraph from bottom, first bullet)
(third paragraph from bottom, first bullet)
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Craig's little helpers...
notice how Jeniffer misconstrues the question from the audience and thus helps Craig (the question simply asked what was he doing with all that money... aka the huge net profits) :
question:" you’re on track to make $55 million in revenues, you have 23 employees, what are you doing with all that money?" (last paragraph)
Jeniffer's misconstruction:
"Asked what he was doing with the riches he had earned [my emphasis]"
(third paragraph from the bottom)
this conveys a very different idea to the reader... (much more favorable to Craig)
Delia
question:" you’re on track to make $55 million in revenues, you have 23 employees, what are you doing with all that money?" (last paragraph)
Jeniffer's misconstruction:
"Asked what he was doing with the riches he had earned [my emphasis]"
(third paragraph from the bottom)
this conveys a very different idea to the reader... (much more favorable to Craig)
Delia
Monday, May 7, 2007
Craig: "I don't understand what the problem is"... well, neither do *I*...
EVEN MORE: I figured I'd thank Staci for the laugh... (my comment)
MORE: but again, it's not everybody that's getting fooled -- not any more! Whoever you were, great question!:" you’re on track to make $55 million in revenues, you have 23 employees, what are you doing with all that money?" Craig's answer is just as hillarious as always: "We don’t know what to do with the money” (last paragraph)
*LOL*...I got an idea, Craig! just play dumb and... put it in your pocket...
.................................
"He deftly mentioned newspapers' high profit margins -- somewhere in the ballpark of 10% to 20% -- as proof there is plenty of money to feed investigative journalism and the newsroom."
(bottom half of 4th paragraph)
so... what about *craigslist's* profit margins? (they certainly appear to be much higher than those of the newspapers) ; isn't that *proof* there should be plenty of money... to hire an adequate number of customer service people and do improvements?
Delia
P.S. Can you imagine all those people listening to him and not noticing contradictions like this... for a decade! (and plenty of them are journalists who are supposed to be trained NOT to get fooled like this...) D.
MORE: but again, it's not everybody that's getting fooled -- not any more! Whoever you were, great question!:" you’re on track to make $55 million in revenues, you have 23 employees, what are you doing with all that money?" Craig's answer is just as hillarious as always: "We don’t know what to do with the money” (last paragraph)
*LOL*...I got an idea, Craig! just play dumb and... put it in your pocket...
.................................
"He deftly mentioned newspapers' high profit margins -- somewhere in the ballpark of 10% to 20% -- as proof there is plenty of money to feed investigative journalism and the newsroom."
(bottom half of 4th paragraph)
so... what about *craigslist's* profit margins? (they certainly appear to be much higher than those of the newspapers) ; isn't that *proof* there should be plenty of money... to hire an adequate number of customer service people and do improvements?
Delia
P.S. Can you imagine all those people listening to him and not noticing contradictions like this... for a decade! (and plenty of them are journalists who are supposed to be trained NOT to get fooled like this...) D.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
there he goes again...
re: Craig: "somebody has something to hide"... *LOL*
Delia
P.S. So... how much have you profited from what was supposed to be a non-profit? (what happened? cat got your tongue?) D.
Delia
P.S. So... how much have you profited from what was supposed to be a non-profit? (what happened? cat got your tongue?) D.
oops... I goofed... (Wikipedia page on "craigslist")
MORE: I thought Craig suggested it because the reason for removal was COI (conflict of interest) and not that long ago a Wikipedian said things were removed and added without a proper rationale (that made me think of Craig's "suggestions" and editor EncMstr's actions)... but it appears that the website that has the interview is in a conflict of interest by attempting to have the link be included in the Wikipedia entry.... still... a good move for Wikipedia! (I would just be more impressed if they reconsidered how they handled Craig's attempts (with some success) to edit the Wikipedia pages on "craigslist" and "Craig Newmark") D.
well, although it's one of those groupieish isn't-Craig-just-perfect interview (in the sense that no real question is asked as thought there weren't any...), the Blau Exchange interview wasn't really Craig's suggestion... sorry!
Delia
P.S. it was all Jimmy's fault ;)... (the P. P.S. to that post) D.
well, although it's one of those groupieish isn't-Craig-just-perfect interview (in the sense that no real question is asked as thought there weren't any...), the Blau Exchange interview wasn't really Craig's suggestion... sorry!
Delia
P.S. it was all Jimmy's fault ;)... (the P. P.S. to that post) D.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Bye bye craigslist?
if Jeff is right (and I think he *is*) craigslist's classifieds model (at least the current one) is already obsolete... D.
Friday, May 4, 2007
another podcast goes missing...
http://blog.nam.org/archives/2007/04/www.nam.org/hidden/podcast/AmericasBusiness_NetNeutrality.mp3
... the link address has "hidden" in it -- whatever for? (and at whose suggestion?)
Delia
P.S. Sounds like things didn't go well for Craig...
Scott:"his knowledge of the issue was surprisingly thin and he obviously did not want to engage on the merits or facts of the issue" (second indented paragraph)
the link to the podcast is dead on Scott's blog also... D.
... the link address has "hidden" in it -- whatever for? (and at whose suggestion?)
Delia
P.S. Sounds like things didn't go well for Craig...
Scott:"his knowledge of the issue was surprisingly thin and he obviously did not want to engage on the merits or facts of the issue" (second indented paragraph)
the link to the podcast is dead on Scott's blog also... D.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Craig is right! (internet = "a new virtual haven for scammers")
Craig: "The Internet may be a wildly effective means of communication and an invaluable source of knowledge, but it has also become a new virtual haven for scammers"
(end of "ebook Description")
whatever happened with things are nice and peachy on the internet and on craigslist? (looks like Craig is out of his goofy PR mode and back to reality -- Andrew might be pleased to know...)
Delia
(end of "ebook Description")
whatever happened with things are nice and peachy on the internet and on craigslist? (looks like Craig is out of his goofy PR mode and back to reality -- Andrew might be pleased to know...)
Delia
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Craig's blog: Craig reopens comments function (was open earlier on)
EVEN MORE: somebody (Robin) already posted a comment
MORE: comments are not open on all entries... only goes back to November 22, 2005 and at least two of the newer entries have comments disabled
potentially interesting: some people may post good questions ... as to Craig's answers... I don't have much hope for real answers, just more opportunity to observe ambiguity, vagueness, confusion etc...
Delia
P.S. Craig also gave his blog a makeover and in the process changed the link addresses. I think I updated to the new links for all entries but let me know if you find out I missed any...thanks! D.
MORE: comments are not open on all entries... only goes back to November 22, 2005 and at least two of the newer entries have comments disabled
potentially interesting: some people may post good questions ... as to Craig's answers... I don't have much hope for real answers, just more opportunity to observe ambiguity, vagueness, confusion etc...
Delia
P.S. Craig also gave his blog a makeover and in the process changed the link addresses. I think I updated to the new links for all entries but let me know if you find out I missed any...thanks! D.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Craig's Cult: craigslist BANS people for *discussing* its finances?
MORE: some of these people are so far gone it makes you wonder if ANYTHING could make them snap out of it... (for some it may just be too late...)
1cent: "You have no right to demand to see their books, the law does not require them to allow it. IMO, if they slap you for it they will have performed a public service [my emphasis]."
the scary part is that 1cent is not particularly dumb... (at least he didn't use to be... some of his suggestions for improvements, for instance, were not bad at all): craigslist seems to do weird things to peoples' heads... looks a lot like a cult to me...
much worse than I thought!
1 cent (long time craigslist feedback forum "volunteer"): "Staff has Isled and banned people before for this kind of irresponsible discussion about CL"
Delia
P.S. again, this was posted in feedback...
P.P.S. if they BAN people for discussing things, it appears they would have no problem just doing away with inconvenient info...
1cent: "You have no right to demand to see their books, the law does not require them to allow it. IMO, if they slap you for it they will have performed a public service [my emphasis]."
the scary part is that 1cent is not particularly dumb... (at least he didn't use to be... some of his suggestions for improvements, for instance, were not bad at all): craigslist seems to do weird things to peoples' heads... looks a lot like a cult to me...
much worse than I thought!
1 cent (long time craigslist feedback forum "volunteer"): "Staff has Isled and banned people before for this kind of irresponsible discussion about CL"
Delia
P.S. again, this was posted in feedback...
P.P.S. if they BAN people for discussing things, it appears they would have no problem just doing away with inconvenient info...
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