Thing 6: "Social Commerce"

Well, this was an interesting assignment. I've used Craig's List before - but it's been awhile. Mostly I've used it when I was apartment hunting in the past, and once in a while to scan for computer equipment. I once flirted with switching to a MAC and was intimidated by the prices for used Apple products on Craig's List.

This time around I looked for two areas of current interest: exercise equipment and toddler toys. I found deals on both: for exercise equipment, prices varied widely. As with Apple computer equipment, many people on Craig's List wanted to sell their still-in-good-shape used equipment for close to the retail price. However, some were willing to part with good equipment for bargain prices, ie, a stationary bike for $50, a total gym workout machine for $100 or $150 (same item - different sellers), or a very useful-looking "edge glider" for $40.

Similarly, I found some children's toys for bargain prices. "18 games/puzzles for $18" was my favorite - with a pic so you could see what you were getting. In both and all categories that I could see there was fantastic variety of merchandise and price, and at times very entertaining and imaginative postings ("Make Chuck Norris proud" one exercise equipment ad said).

I also looked at other areas of Craig's List. I found the topics in politics to be of generally low quality (crank-level, often). I also thought that the way strings were presented in all topics was confusing and hard to use. I also examined both the "Service Offered" and "Jobs" sections and found many ads for Web-developer in each - I wonder if the interface can be automatically set to help those people get together?

Finally, I found it interesting to view the "Free" category: hey, who doesn't need a box of empty VHS cassette tape boxes, or a light-up globe featuring the USSR - they're free and their going in the trash otherwise. "Boxes for moving" would be very useful if I were. Most bizarre, but thoughtful: "50 lbs of coal and coal-sifter...would prefer to give to someone for heat".

The real revelation here is that neither the Globe nor the Herald came close to the variety or quality of Criag's List. I couldn't find anything on the Herald site except for outside links to classifieds for cars, homes, and jobs. However, I did learn that Sarah Palin is distantly related to Princess Di. The Globe site had a section for classifieds, but it was woefully inadequate compared to Craig's List: no exercise equipment at all, only one ad for children's toy and that was for high-end merchandise.

So the bottom line is that handing functionality over to the people trumps the traditional format in this case hands down. Now if only I had the time to scan for everything I need on Craig's List every day...