"We need ideas on how to encourage more flagging,
not less." - Jim Buckmaster, CEO of craigslist
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Dear Craig: Please Stop Abusive Flaggers!
(And show you care about your users)
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While we understand and appreciate your intention that “Flagging” would serve as a tool to facilitate “Community Moderation” on craigslist, it has become a sadistic game for many who are creating nothing but problems for the rest of us, often driving frustrated users away from craigslist. While we understand and appreciate your intention that “Flagging” would serve as a tool to facilitate “Community Moderation” on craigslist, it has become a sadistic game for many who are creating nothing but problems for the rest of us, often driving frustrated users away from craigslist.
Small groups of control-freaks who apparently enjoy harassing craigslist users, have hijacked your list - a valuable resource – and rule it as if it were their own. They form “flagging groups” and conspire with one another to “gang flag” posts THEY decide THEY don’t want on craigslist. This includes posts that don’t in any way, shape or form violate craigslist rules.
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Power takes as ingratitude the writhing of its victims. - Rabindranath Tagore
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The pet section, in particular, is where obsessive, 24/7 flaggers do the most damage, because pets’ lives are on the line (and LOST on a daily basis, due to flaggers’ actions). Many flaggers seem to enjoy dumping posts left and right. Every pet “flagged and removed” moves the frustrated owner one step closer to giving up finding a home and simply surrendering the pet to a shelter, where it has astronomical odds of being killed.
In addition, posts by rescues and shelters are routinely flagged and removed, as are those posted by businesses offering pet-related services, like trainers, behaviorists, kennels, daycares, sitters, groomers and veterinarians. The former have pets needing homes (often acquired as a result of owners being unable to find homes, some of whom, no doubt, tried and gave up on craigslist), and the latter help people keep, and properly care for, their animals, or help adopters be more successful with their new pets.
The function of craigslist pets should not be simply the shifting about of animals. It should be to facilitate desperately needed adoptions and to provide the community services of informing, educating and assisting the pet-owning public.
Unfortunately, many flaggers have found a way to get around the requirement that it takes a multitude of flags to remove a post. There are many programs available FREE on the Internet that allow a person to change his or her IP address at will, in order to flag multiple times – thus, ONE VINDICTIVE PERSON on a vendetta can flag and remove any post he/she desires as often as he/she desires.
Too many users of craigslist in every category and every state are victimized by these thugs.
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Law! What do I care about the law? Haven't I got the power? - Cornelius Vanderbilt
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Disturbingly, many of these flaggers are fanatical cyber-terrorist-types who have tracked down, harassed and intimidated users. There have been many complaints to your office and too often we hear that this problem is being ignored. This is unacceptable. We are desperate to get some help from craigslist on this issue.
Since users whose posts are unfairly flagged and removed are encouraged by you to re-post, and that many times these users have to re-post over and over and over again, the usage-rate totals for craigslist are artificially high. Since ad prices are, or will be, based in part on usage rates, the fees you charge for ads may be higher than warranted. (Is this why you "CONGRATULATE" people for flagging?)
Based on our experience, we must say that your “community moderation” is out of control and abusive to your users, especially in the pets section. As it stands, the bad guys are winning, and we beg you to find a solution.
As loyal and appreciative craigslist users, we respectfully request that you clarify your “Terms of Use” and consider alternatives to your “flagging” system. Perhaps you could approve, train and supervise “official” volunteer flaggers who are fair, reasonable and committed to enforcing YOUR rules and not their own, and to act in the best interest of the innocent pets whose lives are hanging in the balance.
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The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse. - Edmund Burke
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Or, possibly the only solution is to completely abolish it.
Craig, we need to hear from you, and we need you to acknowledge this huge, frustrating, and often devastating, problem that is putting a black eye on craigslist. We are eager to help find solutions soon, as every day of abusive flagging is another day that ultimately leaves animals abandoned and vulnerable. We hope that someday every pet in this country will be in a happy home. We know you want that, too, and we all want craigslist to be a place of safety and integrity, and the UNPARALLELED COMMUNITY RESOURCE it once was.
Can we join together to achieve this mighty and noble goal?
Please Stop Abusive Craigslist Flaggers!
