I emailed abuse, clint, craig and noting happened. I am in the same boat as the author here (not a breeder or animal stuff.).

Hear the Nazi Flagger Witches scream from the deepest pits of hell, where they dwell alongside their evil master Lucifer and all his fellows. Watch as yours truly, the Witch Hunter, walks them to the gallows, first to be hanged, then to be ripped and torn by cats, swine, and all other beasts abominable to this world.

May their souls go from the face of God, and their evil reputations from this world, until they forebear their wicked flagging practices, and rise from the wrath of the Witch Hunter who hereby compels them to make satisfaction and penance henceforth.

May the malediction that fell upon Nebuchadnezzar’s lieutenant, Olifernus, making war and savagery upon true christian men; the malediction that fell upon Judas, Pilate, Herod, and the Jews that crucified Our Lord; and all the plagues and troubles that fell on the city of Jerusalem therefore, and upon Simon Magus for his treachery, bloody Nero, Ditius Magcensius, Olibrius, Julianus Apostita and the rest of the cruel tyrants who slew and murdered Christ’s holy servants, fall upon the evil, Nazi Flagger Witches, and all that they may hold dear, for their cruel tyranny and oppression of the benevolent people who use Craigslist.

May all the malevolent wishes and curses ever known, since the beginning of the world, to this hour, light on them. May the malediction of God, that fell upon their master Lucifer and all his fellows, and that cast him from the high Heaven to the pits of hell, light upon them and theirs.

Juika-bloth!

*OR*

Don’t delete flagged posts…just hide them by default unless the person searching ticks a box to show posts that have been flagged.

PETA sucks.

“If you have posted and been flagged three times just today, so now it doesn’t matter what changes you make as soon as the writing community sees you repost they will just flag you down again.

Also. I really don’t know if a open call for story submissions is really a writing gig. That is really up for the community to decide, so if you take a break, repost and are flagged again you need to take the hint that your community doesn’t want your type of ad in their category.”

The above is quoted from the response of a moderator to someone (not me) who requested submissions of children’s stories for audio book publication. Numerous similar ads are published on CL every day and never flagged. And for good reason. As the moderator acknowledges, there is NOTHING IN THIS AD THAT VIOLATES THE TERMS OF USE. Instead, it has been removed for arbitrary reasons, in his or her words, because the “community doesn’t want your type of ad.”

Therein lies the problem with CL. I can think of no other service that allows a small minority of users (just six, in fact, out of the thousands who visit every day) to control all the other users AT THEIR WHIM, making decisions that are based not on set guidelines but because THEY FEEL LIKE IT. That is not right.

And whether or not CL is free is irrelevant. CL is “free” in the same way basic TV or radio are free. There are advertisers paying for that content, but I still expect that when I turn on a given station, it should be broadcasting what it’s supposed to when it’s supposed to. The same goes for any web site. It’s free for me to read and use millions of web sites, but if they don’t provide the quality they promise, I have the right to complain and review them negatively just like anyone else.

Why the person in the above example was targeted is beyond me. As a writer, I would have liked to have had the opportunity to see and answer this ad, and I’m sure many other writers would feel the same. Instead, I get to wade through clear bait- and-switches in the real estate section, porn ads in personals, and stay-at-home scams in the help wanteds, while legitimate ads are removed by teenagers sitting up at night with nothing to do but remove content that rubs them the wrong way for whatever reason.

I’m not going to take the self-defeating attitude that if it’s broke, I might as well ditch it instead of fix it. That doesn’t improve anything or help anyone. Instead, whenever I see an opportunity to negatively review CL, I’m going to take it. I’ve noticed a lot of discontent and grumbling on this subject around the Internet lately. Eventually, as more and more users get fed up with CL, they may start to feel the loss of business. I hope they do.

perhaps you should have studied a little harder in econ 101.

Messages to Craig often get the most juvenile response, as if he didn’t even read what you wrote.

There are in fact people who sit and wait for new ads to flag, people with longterm vendettas or grudges, and apparently no other purpose in life. I’ve also discovered news about professional flaggers who sit around for hours at a time and do the dirty work for others.

Craig and Co. simply refuse to admit this problem exists. Since Craig so obviously loves flags and doesn’t care if they’re used to bother people, I propose people start mailing all kinds of flags to his office. It’s a peaceful protest, and maybe he’ll get the message when they start being delivered at his door from all over the country.

They could address the problem easily by requiring a verification word before flagging, just as they do for posting. What they SHOULD do is require everyone to have an account before posting or flagging, and limit the number of times a person can flag during one period. They could verify one account per person with phone numbers as they do now on some boards.

But it will take a consumer advocate, a lawsuit or a big media journalist, to get their attention, by pointing out that whether or not CL is a private site, they are enabling and advocating harassment and limiting freedom of speech by not addressing the wrongful flagging issue.

I, personally, am more interested in the pet section because these are live animals needing homes, but please know that there are general flaggers also that gang up and target people. Competition flagging is another problem on Craigslist. If you are experiencing problems outside of the pet section – please refer to the general flagging forum link below. Also, be sure to contact abuse@craigslist.org if you are being harassed, targeted or slandered in any way. This is their site and they should do a better job of maintaining/moderating and supporting loyal users.

This site is community based, so it is important that we quit letting these people decide how things work around here. Whenever I’ve emailed staff they’ve responded with “I need to hear that from more people.”

Ask for an increase in the number of flags in your local area to remove an ad and ask that a Term be added addressing Abusive or Team Flagging in their Craigslist Terms of Use.

Some of these flaggers are also known to hack the flagging system by using IP proxies to ensure the ads they want are removed.

If you visit the forum below you will see that the forum has been recently semi-overtook by unhappy targeted pet posters – help out by joining in the conversations and discussions. Remember to protect your personal information by using an anonymous email through yahoo, hotmail or lycos. Have fun and try not to take any of it too seriously, although animal’s lives are at stake so it can get heated at any time.

http://craigslist.org/forums/?forumID=4915 – For Pet Flagging – help out! Join in!

http://craigslist.org/forums/?forumID=5194 – For General Flagging

http://groups.google.com/group/craigslistpetsalesflagginggroup – No longer available to the public – ASKED BY CRAIGSLIST TO SHUT DOWN.

http://www.noflagnuts.com – Tips and Tricks to posting on Craigslist, most important tip – REPOST often.

http://craigslist.org/forums/?forumID=38912

is where the anti-flaggers are hanging out – you are more than welcome to drop by, ask for help on an ad and what not. Keep the number to yourself though or at least let me know before you give it to someone.

stopabusivecraigslistflags@hotmail.com is another group that is fighting the pet flaggers, they have put together a great email campaign – contact them for more in depth information or to be added to their mailing list.

if you’d like to complain privately – email one or all of them @

craig@craigslist.org

abuse@craigslist.org

clint@craigslist.org

Talk soon and keep your emails and forum posts as clean and as short as possible – gets the best response.