This weekend, my housemates decided that with football season upon us, we will need to buy a bigger TV. I began checking Craig’s List (CL) postings for any good deals and in the meantime, wasted time reading the Rants and Raves sections. CL is an anonymous, asynchronous message board where you can look for apartments, jobs, etc. CL message boards are specific to one particular region, for example there is a CL board for
The Rants and Raves section with where users can post anonymously about absolutely anything they want (hence rants and raves). This obviously leads to problems, so CL has a feature where you can ‘flag’ a posting and if enough people flag the post, it will be removed. Users can flag a post as miscategorized, prohibited, spam, or best-of. So, the Leviathan is present in this online environment with its own users being the moderators. In this way, there is an internal quality check on the postings. On CL, there is no “sign on the door,” as Wallace would say, users can immediately go to CL and start posting, which leads to more lewd postings. Also it is hard to give an ‘arched brow’ because you won’t know if your post is in the process of being flagged until it is and removed from the message board. The only mode of reproach is through anonymous flagging.
One of the norms on CL is not to post looking for drugs in Rants and Raves and otherwise the post will get flagged. Users have come to know that the police read the anonymous boards and thus, trouble can arise. It is generally unacceptable in the CL environment to look for drug dealers or even to use their names. For example, if anyone wants to post about cocaine, instead they refer to it as ‘ski’ or for meth, it would be ‘nina.’ As noted earlier, there aren’t many strict rules on CL and no ‘sign on the door’ and no ‘terms and agreements’ to read. The reproach for such a post would be immediate flagging by the users. New users can learn this norm by observing the flagged posted. Even if a post has been flagged, the subject line of the post remains while its contents are deleted. So users can see if postings entitled ‘looking to ski tonight’ have been removed, then it becomes apparent such subjects are frowned upon.
In this case, conformity to following posting rules is supported by the SIDE theory. Here, users of the Ithaca CL or Syracuse CL feel high group saliency and all are visually anonymous. Therefore, users are more likely to conform to the social norms. Otherwise, all other group members will raise their virtual brows and flag the post.
4 comments:
So the Leviathan is this case is ... true democracy? What if you joke around and say you are looking for coke? Or is the Leviathan in this case not sensitive enough to pick up the nuance of the joking and therefore would treat it as a serious request? In that case I guess joking is simply not accepted.
What types of posts are universally "frowned upon?" I mean, other than racism / sexism / other blatant prejudices? My idea of what's appropriate is probably very different from your idea. So does the phenomenon of multiple flaggings reflect the internal moral meter that we all somehow have and that are relatively identical for all of us? Is there a line that most of us can agree on to not cross?
My question is, if this is such a recurring problem, why is the Leviathan limited to simple flags? Why does CL not appoint frequent users to be moderatos, much as you would find in many chat rooms or other types of message boards? These positions are unpaid, and would cost the company nothing. On the other hand, it might attract more users who are uncomfortable with drug-related innuendo. If such behavior were disallowed, more traffic might come through the CL site.
Your mention of the lack of a terms of service agreement is very intriguing in any environment in which users can send out any message. I'm not sure that I would personally consider flagging a Leviathan considering there is no real consequence, such as removal of the message or banning of the user from the board.
This is a very interesting circumstance, as you have pointed out. With no "sign on the door", and no ability to perceive when you are receiving an "arched brow" the leviathan must work in an alternative way on CL. I am impressed with your perception of how this process takes place; that is, that the remaining subject lines of posts whose bodies have been removed serve as warnings to others of what the consequences for violating the social norms of the site are, while educating as to the content of these very norms. Honestly, the concept of deleting a flagged posts body while leaving its subject line as a warning reminds me of one of the first scenes in the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" where Depp's character passes a dead pirate hanging from a noose with a sign reading "pirates, ye be warned."
I think it’s surprising that Craig’s List does not choose to exert more control over users. For a laugh, my friend and I used to check out the personals on CL, you’re right Vaishal, people can post anything! The personals are filled sex solicitations and obscene prostitutes posting pictures and writing about their sexual aptitudes!
I think CL is unique and interesting for a variety of reasons: it’s open to anyone with internet access, user freedom is encouraged as seen with the lack of a Leviathan, and its widespread popularity attracts more than 30 million users each month (indicated on their FAQ’s) leading to diversity. Studying the social dynamics on this site could open many doors researchers.
Anyway, It doesn’t sound like the mode of reproach here, the arched eyebrow or the removal of a post, is one that will achieve conformity, yet the structure of the site stills allows for productivity. If someone chooses to write something inappropriate for the sake of getting others excited or just as a complete lack of regard, then users still have the satisfaction of knowing that they have achieved their means to some degree, even if a post is eventually removed. I think that CL’s 30 million users each month don’t cry out for a more strict code of conduct because it’s relatively easy to avoid non-conformity and be productive.
It’s well known that bodies of law enforcement browse the site, especially to those breaking the law, so I would suggest their presence serves as another Leviathan.
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