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Craigslist
Craigslist is a community network website, started by Craig Newmark as a public bulletin, events, and connection service to the San Francisco area. It spread through word of mouth, and became large enough to demand the use of a list server (majordomo), which required a name. Friends suggested calling it "craigslist", and the name stuck. Since starting in 1995, it has grown to include sections for several large "metros", including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and Atlanta.
Craig observed people on the Net, on The WELL[?] and in Usenet, helping one another, in a friendly, trusted-community way. He decided to create a similar site specifically for local San Francisco events. Word of mouth, and user demand led to the addition of new categories.
After first being approached about running banner ads, Newmark decided to make Craigslist non-commercial. He was joined by other people with new ideas; having parties to bring people face-to-face, and creating a nonprofit foundation as part of Craigslist.
Craig says that it works because it gives people a voice, and a sense of community trust and even intimacy. Other factors he cites are consistency of down-to-earth values, simplicity, and no charges, except for job postings. In lieu of real banner advertising, Craigslist staff for a short time posted mock-banner ads, as a humourous substitute.
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