Go, Craig!

He begins by saying that he doesn’t have the capacity to think in terms of “user generated content.” [Did I mention: “Go Craig!”?]

He says CraigsList is a flea market. People go there to buy and sell but also to talk with other people. The only only way the site can run is by counting on people policing the site as much as possible themselves. “People are overwhelmingly trustworthy.” As a result of counting on self-policing, trust develops.

He contrasts this with corporations that don’t trust their customers. “I work with too many cops now that want me to be feisty. I’d rather have a nap.”

“I count on doing customer support only for the rest of my life. After that, it’s over.

The wisdom of the crowds works. “We do suffer from the problems of any kind of democracy.” The site gets spam, worst being political disinformation. In fact, Craig says he was just “swiftboated.”

By way of hope, he points to Dan Gillmor’s Center working on understanding citizen journalism and projects such as Congresspedia, a wiki about’s who’s buying Congress and what’s written on the price tag.

He says that in his little world, one of the thing’s that’s worked is remembering what it’s like to be left out, and then include people. [Go, Craig. My hero.] [Tags: supernova craig_newmark craigslist]

Categories: Uncategorized dw