Such a mess: Mass flaggings on Craigslist
Not sure if anyone has noticed this, or if it's going on in your local one.
It takes about 20-30 "flags" reported on an ad before the system auto-deletes it. Of course there's no signing up, so anyone can flag an ad. It just checks IPs.
Basically, people are using programs that will spam flag an ad. Flag an ad through a proxy server, change IP, flag it again, switch IP... Repeat till removed.
Holy crap, there's sections of the Philadelphia craigslist where all the ads from the last 3-5 days are all totally removed. I think the programs auto go through and attack new ones the second they're posted. I've seen ads come up, read them, then hit refresh and poof, it's already marked as being removed due to flagged.
I had a friend trying to sell several glass arcade marquees for me- And he kept complaining that every time he posted, it'd get flagged. Mysteriously- there was only one seller whose vintage arcade junk wouldn't get flagged at all. I gave him an irate phone call- and the constant flagging stopped within about 60 minutes.
It is truly pathetic and discouraging that certain people will flag out ads selling other items identical to the ones they have for sale.
Nuisances like this keeps up and I wonder how long before Craigslist has to change up their system to prevent it.
I swear eBay bought part ownership of Craigslist just to make sure bad decision making on running the site could continue and flourish. Would only make sense for them to do so.
Craigslist's problem is the fact it's an open ad forum that requires zero subscribing. It was only a matter of time before people figured out ways to anonymously abuse the system.
Some do it for the above listed reason, others do it just to be assholes. I noticed in the Rants and Raves section a guy spamming up ads claiming it's him and friends attacking the Dover, Delaware CL. Saying how they're gonna keep the entire service shut down via flagging from now till the end of time.
Craigslist is a great concept, but in the end they'll probably have to resort to charging or other requirements that'll piss off people just to prevent abuse.
OT EDIT: I still can't believe some of the personal ad postings that are clearly prostitution. It's just the outright audacity of saying "Any orifice available, I'll get freaky all you want for $$$".
I always assume they're undercover cops, but who knows, some people are simply that stupid...
It takes about 20-30 "flags" reported on an ad before the system auto-deletes it. Of course there's no signing up, so anyone can flag an ad. It just checks IPs.
Basically, people are using programs that will spam flag an ad. Flag an ad through a proxy server, change IP, flag it again, switch IP... Repeat till removed.
Holy crap, there's sections of the Philadelphia craigslist where all the ads from the last 3-5 days are all totally removed. I think the programs auto go through and attack new ones the second they're posted. I've seen ads come up, read them, then hit refresh and poof, it's already marked as being removed due to flagged.
I had a friend trying to sell several glass arcade marquees for me- And he kept complaining that every time he posted, it'd get flagged. Mysteriously- there was only one seller whose vintage arcade junk wouldn't get flagged at all. I gave him an irate phone call- and the constant flagging stopped within about 60 minutes.
It is truly pathetic and discouraging that certain people will flag out ads selling other items identical to the ones they have for sale.
Nuisances like this keeps up and I wonder how long before Craigslist has to change up their system to prevent it.
I swear eBay bought part ownership of Craigslist just to make sure bad decision making on running the site could continue and flourish. Would only make sense for them to do so.
Craigslist's problem is the fact it's an open ad forum that requires zero subscribing. It was only a matter of time before people figured out ways to anonymously abuse the system.
Some do it for the above listed reason, others do it just to be assholes. I noticed in the Rants and Raves section a guy spamming up ads claiming it's him and friends attacking the Dover, Delaware CL. Saying how they're gonna keep the entire service shut down via flagging from now till the end of time.
Craigslist is a great concept, but in the end they'll probably have to resort to charging or other requirements that'll piss off people just to prevent abuse.
OT EDIT: I still can't believe some of the personal ad postings that are clearly prostitution. It's just the outright audacity of saying "Any orifice available, I'll get freaky all you want for $$$".
I always assume they're undercover cops, but who knows, some people are simply that stupid...