Craigslist Rants and Raves

Craigslist Rants and raves

Are you a Craigslist user?  Craigslist has taken over many facets of the printed newspaper classified ads.  Craigslist is free to everyone to post ads for items for sale, help wanted, personal notices, and real estate.  Some commercial use may incur a fee but if you are an average person wanting to get your message out, then Craigslist may be for you.

One of the more active parts of Craigslist is the Rants and Raves section, located in the personals area. Rants and Raves is organized by location, as is all of Craigslist.  After selecting your area you are taken to the opinions of anyone choosing to post on Craigslist in your area.

The Corvallis/Albany Rants and Raves section has a very lively discussion most of the time.  Most of the posts are negative against something someone is unhappy with.  For example, the current discussion, as I write this, involves the Oregon Trail card.  The Oregon Trail card is the way in which food stamp money is distributed now, instead of paper "stamps." 

A poster started the thread by saying, "Stopped at a convenience store for a snack and an overweight lady in front of me is buying food, a bottle of Mountain Dew and a 44 ounce fountain drink, which she then proceeds to pay using an Oregon Trail card -- but then pulls out cash to buy 3 or 4 scratch off tickets. I’ll be pissed if she wins. At least if she loses on all of them, the state will get back some of their money."

The poster is upset because they observed, what they thought was a waste of their money, or taxpayer's money since food assistance is paid for by taxes.  The follow up posts range from someone saying they don't want another thread on Oregon Trail Cards to not blaming the poor lady using the cards because she is influenced by the "food lobby."  The point of all of this is that everyone has an opinion.  Whether they right or wrong, Craigslist Rants and Raves is there for people to share them with everyone else.

The general theme is that of negativity but once in a while a rave does pop up.

A poster may be happy with the dinner they had the night before or some service that they receive and make a post about it.  One recent rave was about a person who was happy with their car service and posted the name of the business with a positive message attached.

The bulk of postings, by far, are politically charged rants about any subject from the President to the local city council.  Another favorite subject is the Corvallis Police Department.  Craigslist is an anonymous forum and posters take advantage of that.  They let loose and tell it like they see it, where they may not do that if they had to put a name on their opinions.

The political rants seem to go to the absolute extreme on either side.  And, usually, it does not take long for someone to be offended and the post disappears after being "flagged."

If enough of the Craigslist population does not agree with or like one of the posts, a process is in place to remove the offending post.  A post may be "flagged" by clicking on a link in the upper right hand corner of the page.  Once enough people "flag" the offending post, it is deleted from the site.  This provides a check against posts that may be offensive or contain information that is objectionable to the Craiglist community without Craigslist having to have someone to police the posts.  Flagging is also abused to get rid of a post that someone simply does not like or agree with.

Craigslist is a valuable resource to the community.  It provides an easy, cheap alternative to posting a classified ad in the newspaper.  It also provides a community forum to discuss issues anonymously.



At a Glance:

Best Of

Some of the best posts on Craig's List are located at the Best of Craig's List.
What is it?


Craig's list is a free place to post classified and personal ads and to post your rants and raves about life.

Where?  

http://www.craigslist.org/

Cautions


As with all Internet venues be careful about what you post and about leaving personal information on Craig's List.  If you place a classified ad often times Internet scammers will send you email trying to get you to provide personal information.  With the rants and raves section, all information is hidden but you may get an email from someone who does not like what you post.  You may also feel the need to email someone who has posted something you do not like.  DO NOT reply to a post without careful consideration.  You will be giving away your email address and personal information in the process and lose your anonymity.