Your Guide to Posting on Craigslist.org

Craigslist.org. One of the internet's most useful resources for uniting local buyers and sellers of products, services, and even labor, by facilitating online connections. Not only that, but Craigslist offers forums for people to discuss almost anything. Craigslist is completely free (except for a few cities), and community moderated. But what exactly does this community moderation entail? And how can you ensure your post will be accepted by the community?

Craigslist's Unsung Heroes
In a "community moderated" forum such as craigslist.org, rules are enforced by the community itself. At the top of each posting is a series of buttons allowing one to "flag" the post as miscategorized, prohibited, spam, etc. If Craigslist receives enough flags, they will automatically remove the posting.

Somehow, community moderation never seems to fail to remove content that violates the site terms and conditions. This is kind of ironic, considering most people never read terms and conditions before agreeing to them. With that point aside, how can you be sure to post something that won't be flagged down?

Obvious Violations
On Craigslist.org, there exist obvious conditions that apply to anywhere. Violations of these conditions are not hard to pinpoint. Do not post any content that is:

· Unlawful

· Harmful

· Threatening

· Abusive

· Harassing

· Defamatory (harmful and false)

· Libelous (same as defamatory)

There are many other specific conditions that apply to restrict postings that are unlawful in nature, but most of these fall under one of the above categories. Just don't post anything that is unlawful or harmful.

Specificities of Craigslist Postings
There are also restrictions on certain posts that may not be harmful or unlawful. The first thing to remember is that if a post even looks like it violates a condition set by Craigslist, it will often be removed. This is the problem that lies within community moderated forums and their automation. Here are some specifics to look out for when posting.