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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

#31

Post by defterGoose »

nerdponx wrote: post #9
xahrepap wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A local media company runs a "classifieds" on their online site. It dominates locally. Craigslist has been worthless for ages here because of it. However, Facebook Marketplace seems to be slowly gaining traction. Which I hate for all the reasons you mention. I dread the day it takes over :(

Facebook Marketplace has completely taken over in most parts of the US. It sucks.

As I noted above, not as much of a problem here in LA, but I totally believe you that it's true elsewhere. And honestly, I'm probably missing some great stuff not perusing FB and OfferUp.

But there's one simple, guiding principle that I'm always following. And that's refusing to reactivate my FB account.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#33

Post by _dain_ »

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…

>Craigslist is a desert, a void, an oasis of empty search results.

it's a desert and an oasis at the same time?

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#34

Post by laundermaf »

Ken_At_EM wrote: post #18

It's because it prints money. Is just a straight money printing machine. Of all the Golden Goose's, it's best to just leave it alone and let it do it's thing.

Facebook prints money too but that didn’t stop them from turning the clean perfect interface they had in 2010 into the steaming pile of eggs it is now.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#35

Post by CharlesW »

soperj wrote: post #23
yamtaddle wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,…

I don't know why anyone would want to attach their name and everything to stuff they are selling.

I personally deactivated my Facebook account, but note that this less anonymity is a benefit for buyers. It makes Craigslist a far more attractive target for scammers.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#36

Post by defterGoose »

CharlesW wrote: post #28
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…

A recent experience trying to find something on Craigslist was shocking. As much as its UI is frozen in time, so are its anti-abuse measures. I have no doubt that lots of people are getting hurt using Craigslist. I would never recommend it to friends or family.

Can you provide a concrete example?

IME any online platform is going to be a staircase into the bowels of human nature. It's all about being aware you need to protect yourself online. If you're encountering things like child porn or prostitution, or anything illegal really, it's your responsibility to at least report it.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#37

Post by mrkstu »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #27
xahrepap wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A local media company runs a "classifieds" on their online site. It dominates locally. Craigslist has been worthless for ages here because of it. However, Facebook Marketplace seems to be slowly gaining traction. Which I hate for all the reasons you mention. I dread the day it takes over :(

I'm curious where you live. After all, craigslist famously decimated classified advertising in the US, primarily because classified ads in newspapers are hella expensive, and craigslist is usually free.

Probably KSL Classifieds in the Utah market:

https://classifieds.ksl.com/

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#38

Post by TheRealPomax »

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…

Although unfortunately, it doesn't understand the fairly typical non-urban "yes, you found something that's less than 10 miles from me as the crow flies, but is about 80 miles away if I need to actually drive there because of the fact that my car can't cross a river/strait/lake on its own". Even after 25 years, that part can still do with improvement.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#39

Post by tempestn »

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…

FBM also has some glaring deficiencies in its search. For example, you can't do a keyword search within a category. So they have a bunch of categories like Vehicles or Electronics, but within those you can only use predefined filters. If you want freeform keywords you're stuck with the general search.

Re: Why Craigslist still looks the same after 25 years

#40

Post by defterGoose »

system16 wrote: post #15

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 unt…

See, I completely equate "clutter" with things like banner ads. CL is amongst the least "cluttered" sites I use.

It absolutely doesn't live up to the latest trends in UI/UX design, but the fact that it feels more like basic HTML forms with little styling is a feature, not a bug.

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