Craigslist is a classified advertisements website that started as a community newsletter in San Francisco. It now hosts classified ads in over 450 cities worldwide covering housing, jobs, items for sale, services, and personals. To participate by posting or commenting, users create a simple account with an email address. The site appeals to a broad range of users through its easy search and organized layout. While not visually interesting, Craigslist is effective for users who often find what they are looking for quickly. The founders strive to keep it a service-focused community site rather than aiming for huge profits. One challenge is preventing scams by users trying to steal money or information through fake payments or identity theft.

1. How Craigslist Works
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Yuki Tanaka

2. Craigslist Controversy
Craigslist.org, originally a San Francisco
community electronic newsletter, is now one of
the most visited English language Web sites,
with local classifieds for more than 450 cities
worldwide. The site's main function is to host
classified ads that cover practically every
category you can think of, including housing,
job postings, items for sale, services and
personals.

3. Craigslist Controversy
If you want to participate in forum discussions
or post your own classifieds, you need to create
a craigslist account. The only thing you need to
become a member is a valid e-mail address.
The signup process is short and painless --
after entering your e-mail and filling in a
verification word, you'll receive an e-mail that
includes a link you'll need to click on to verify
your account and log in. Once you've done that,
you've officially joined the craigslist community.

4. The Craigslist Network
Craigslist communities appeal to a broad range
of users. The simple, organized layout and
helpful search engine makes navigation easy.
Craigslist members range from teenagers to
senior citizens. They post on the forums, shop
online, trade tips and make new friends. While
the site itself may not be the most visually
interesting Internet destination, there's no
denying its effectiveness. Users often report
that it's easy to find what they are searching for
within a few minutes of logging on to the site.

5. Craigslist Financials
Newmark and Buckmaster strive to keep
craigslist a service-based company focused on
online communities.Many of their decisions fly
in the face of traditional business strategies, but
Newmark has said that keeping the communal
culture of craigslist intact is more important
than making enormous profits . Even the site's
offices are unusual for an Internet company
instead of a flashy office in a building made of
glass and steel, craigslist's headquarters are in
an old Victorian storefront in San Francisco .

6. Craigslist Controversy
One of the biggest challenges for the craigslist
community is weeding out scam artists. The
site has a section describing common scam
tactics and what users should do if they come
across them. Scams might involve fake money
orders or checks, bait-and-switch schemes (in
which you think you're getting one thing but end
up with another), phishing schemes designed
to obtain personal information, identity theft
schemes and other unethical and illegal
activities.