Ahh, Craigslist, that happy little Web site of frugal friends buying, selling or trading worn-out cars and cozy apartment furniture.
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Plus, there are all those craigslist jokes about blacks, gays, Hispanics, women and Jews. The dirty little secret about the wildly popular Craigslist is that one click away from its home craigslist are some raunchy and often deeply offensive forums inviting blatant racism, rants and sexual kinks.
Did you hear the one about the Indian oroville the prostitute? Or why Bill Clinton was the first black president? Thanks to Craigslist, your kids probably have.
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Craigslist, of course, is not the only Internet portal to crude conversation — equally offensive material can be found at individual pages or discussion groups on MySpace, Yahoo and other popular sites. Whether the deep-blue exchanges prompt disgust or indifferent tolerance among mainstream Craigslist users depends on your position in the ever-growing Internet community. Critics of the Oroville forums say the sites act not as healthy outlets for inevitable sentiment but as encouragement to troubled minds.
Their behavior is applauded, seconded. It does seem to roll and escalate. Traffic on Craigslist, which competes for classified advertising with daily newspapers, is growing exponentially, even as the San Francisco-based company holds its staff to about two dozen full-time employees.
Analysts estimate the company takes in tens of millions of dollars even with oroville below-market rates.
Ownership is divided among Buckmaster, founder Craig Newmark and eBay. Buckmaster said user flags result in millions of postings wiped out each month, from about 30 million monthly entries. While Craigslist is operating on relatively new technology, the problems of misuse are as old as the First Amendment. Originally Published: December 10, at a.
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