Did You Notice Craig’s List Was Missing?
Power equipment failure left tens of thousands of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) San Francisco area customers wondering, “Huh? Who turned out the lights?” The power failure even managed to take out PG&E’s own office, which is funny on several levels. The worse part of the entire disaster wasn’t PG&E’s office darkness, but rather the darkness felt with the absence of several bay area based web sites.
Who went dark during the failure?
A fairly significant list of sites were taken offline with the PG&E disaster. Craig’s List, however, was probably the biggest lose. How do I figure that? Despite being the largest online classified section I can think of, it’s also the largest virtual yard sale.
We all love a good yard sale
Be honest, isn’t there something tempting about a yard sale? You don’t need more junk in your house, but you’re strangely curious about the junk other people are selling. Craig’s List is exactly that: the biggest yard sale you can’t resist. I know people that spend an hour or two every day just browsing their favorite categories in search of something they don’t need and don’t intent to buy. But what makes Craig’s List such a popular place to list junk?
If they can list it for free, they will
If you’ve never heard of Craig’s List, then you’ve probably new to the Internet or have been living under a rock for the past few years and should definitely read my previous review of the site. Craig’s List is the greatest virtual yard sale because you can list nearly anything for free! If you can list anything for free, the listing risk is gone. That means that all that stuff from attics and garages, otherwise destine for the dump, ends up on Craig’s List which makes for some great browsing. Therefore, when the power went out, the doors were shut on the Internet’s most interesting virtual yard sale.
PG&E might have left tens of thousands of people in the dark but it also left tens of thousands of people wondering, “Hey! What happened to Craig’s List?” Yes, it was a sad confusing day for virtual yard sale lovers everywhere, but fear not — The power is back on! Let the window shopping continue!
Post a comment