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Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

pcmag.com

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Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#11

Post by yamtaddle »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #3

* I far, far, far prefer Craigslist interface to anything else in that space. It's clear and focused Its search engine too - I get things I search for in the area I search for. For me, Kijiji and Facebook marketplace are awful UI, awful distractions, and give me 10,000 "suggested" or "fuzzy searched" things in random order, suppressing things I'm actually looking for. And I've completely given up on eBay over last de…

Facebook Marketplace seems to have all but killed it, here.

You have to check Facebook anyway because schools, HOAs, businesses, even local governments often treat it as their primary outlet for information, as in, stuff gets posted there first, and sometimes only there. Though IG is taking over some of that (but of course that's still Facebook)

Luckily my wife does that, so I can get away without having an account, but I'd basically have to have one otherwise. If you've already got one and already have to visit Facebook sometimes, may as well use FB marketplace....

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#12

Post by neonscribe »

jethro_tell wrote: post #4
DesiLurker wrote: post #2

I wish more sites maintained that sort of minimalism and stayed away from selling out as much as possible. Great job CL!

Man, just 10 people working there, couldn't have done that with vc backed funding. Have to grow, then have to add people to grow, then have to add features to try to pay for the people. But man, if you think about every $25 car/apartment/job post, it's plenty of money for 10 people. Pretty insane.

He said "in the 10s", so I guess it could be up to a couple hundred. Still, a remarkably small number for a business like that.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#13

Post by xapata »

ghaff wrote: post #10
jethro_tell wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, just 10 people working there, couldn't have done that with vc backed funding. Have to grow, then have to add people to grow, then have to add features to try to pay for the people. But man, if you think about every $25 car/apartment/job post, it's plenty of money for 10 people. Pretty insane.

>plenty of money for 10 people I'm guessing a lot of people here wouldn't consider it plenty of money.

Craig Newmark has roughly $1B.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#14

Post by aerovistae »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #3

* I far, far, far prefer Craigslist interface to anything else in that space. It's clear and focused Its search engine too - I get things I search for in the area I search for. For me, Kijiji and Facebook marketplace are awful UI, awful distractions, and give me 10,000 "suggested" or "fuzzy searched" things in random order, suppressing things I'm actually looking for. And I've completely given up on eBay over last de…

Weird. On the east coast it's still as populated and reliable as it ever was. Although I don't typically buy consumer goods on it.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#15

Post by system16 »

I don't particularly like Craigslist's UI, but I still prefer it to other online marketplaces because it's fast and simple. I do find it cluttered and not very nice to navigate, but I'll gladly take a bit of clutter and clunkiness over MBs of hideous banner ads shoved in my face, and god-knows what trackers and scripts are being used on the other sites.

Similarly, I still use old.reddit and will continue to do so until they force that new monstrosity on me.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#16

Post by layer8 »

> Because that serves people better. I've learned that people want stuff that is simple and fast and gets the job done. People don't need fancy stuff. Sometimes you just want to get through the day. […] It’s fast and easy for people, and that’s a big deal. […] For me as an engineer, simple is beautiful. Functional is beautiful.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#17

Post by frankharv »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #7

My problem with Craigslist isn't that it looks old, the problem is that they seemingly refuse to modernize anything else about the site. Craigslist is chock full of spam and people abusing the search feature. I'm no anti-spam guru, but surely there is a way to cut down on people submitting the same thumbnail dozens of times using as many keywords as they can so their cellphone screen repair service shows up when look…

I love it and I despise the fact that they pulled down personal ads.

It was like a virtual clipboard in the laundromat.

Then the feds came and kicked in the doors.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#19

Post by boatsie »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #3

* I far, far, far prefer Craigslist interface to anything else in that space. It's clear and focused Its search engine too - I get things I search for in the area I search for. For me, Kijiji and Facebook marketplace are awful UI, awful distractions, and give me 10,000 "suggested" or "fuzzy searched" things in random order, suppressing things I'm actually looking for. And I've completely given up on eBay over last de…

Related, so many sellers are now “pro” sellers like what happened to eBay. Keyword stuffing, prices that are comparable to sale prices of new, constant automated reposting, etc.
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