No wait. There's another thing Craig Newmark is good at: creating a central place on the Web where organization can arise from clutter and madness. That's kind of how I view Craigslist, an unattractive, slightly confusing, yet overall organized place for all things you might be seeking.
So, maybe, just maybe, Newmark is the guy to get people to turn their attention to doing good in the world.
Emphasis on "maybe."
That seems to be the idea behind his new site, Craigconnects. According to Newmark, the "long-term purpose" of Craigconnects is to "help connect everyone of good will across the entire world for whatever they feel is the common good."
A bit of a broad mission statement, yeah? That's hardly surprising coming from the mastermind behind Craigslist, which has been known to connect people seeking and selling things from homes to spatulas to humans.
According to the site, Newmark is committing 20 years of his life to Craigconnects, "focusing first on nonprofits and public service organizations that get stuff done on a sustainable basis."
In bold, at the top of the page, he writes: "This is the biggest thing in my life, and I'd like a little help from you."
So... what exactly is it?
The idea is that this site will use the Internet to bring "everyone in the world together" to commit to socially responsible projects. For the first year, claims the site's "Purpose" page, Craigconnects will be "focused solely on the areas of support defined on this website, even though I know there are many other worthy efforts that might be worth support in the future, as craigconnects grows."
Right now those areas of support include Community Building, Journalism Integrity, Middle East, Open & Accountable Government, Service & Volunteering, Technology for Social Good, and Veteran Issues. You can see on the "Areas of Support" page the organizations that are listed under each category as worthy of attention. And, that's about it. The site itself does not raise money or grants. It just lists organizations.
So... essentially it's a site where Craig Newmark promotes causes of importance to him and the organizations he believes are doing the best job in helping out. In that case... it's a positive organization aggregator with an opinion?
That's not a bad thing. If it can reduce the noise of the Web and direct people to a clear list of things to support, that could be useful.
But at this moment it seems the biggest reason for people to commit to using Craigconnects is because Craig asked them to. If that works, that's great. But it's still very unclear what the big thing is here, what makes this site innovative, and what, exactly, Newmark wants from people. For example, he's listed The Huffington Post under the heading of "Journalism Integrity." So, what are we supposed to do... read it?
If you're still confused about what this site is supposed to accomplish, you're not alone. To clear that up, Newmark posted this blog yesterday:
Folks, it won't happen real soon, but we're getting lots of feedback, figuring out what to do about it.
We need to clarify the purpose of this thing.
We need to better suggest how to help.
Also, lots of newish nonprofits want to participate, we need to help figure out the whole mass vetting thing, will have suggestions.
In other words, if you want more clarity on how to use Craigconnects, you need to be patient. It's a good thing Craig's got that 20-year commitment.
How ironic of you to mention San Fran and "No Sex" together in a sentence... We know how it goes, first it's "cookies", then "dinner", then "let's go out" and from there I'll let you figure out the rest!!
Ironically, isn't "Craigslist" all about "connecting" already?? Do we need a distinct "CraigConnects" as opposed to a section in Craigslist for Social Services, Charity, etc.
On the surface this looks like a publicity stunt to get the "Craigs" brand out of the dark and seedy limelight that the term "Craigslist" seems to be regularly associated with in media stories of late...
Surely anybody could come up with a site to aggregate non-profits and charitable organizations, but the name recognition associated with a "Craigs-xxx" much like the term "google" is a powerful presence on the "web"...
I'm pretty sure nobody is going to jump at "PaulConnects" or "JoeConnects"!!
Why are we lowering the bar of excellence so low these days? So just because someone is trying even the ridiculous is to you enough get our applause. In your view we should not question Carig's intention simply because he is Craig Newmark of Craiglist fame.
We should not lower our expectations of people to just hw hard they try. We have a socila responsbility to enusre that no one mastermind a scheme in the name of world eace just build his/her empire. Craig has to tell us very clearly what Craigconnect is all about. For now though there is too much ambiguity surrounding Craigconnect.
Paul - I have to agree. In looking into this, it sounds more like it is self-serving for Newmark. I mean the mission statement is SO universal, SO broad - and then there appears a significant amount of backpeddling in "you tell us how to shape it and we'll consider it"
Sounds like crowdsourcing for the common good - not a bad thing, but almost like a universal blank non-profit agenda.
Anyone else feel like it sounds like community service too?
My hat is off to this guy regardless of he may or may not do in the future. He took a simple idea, kept it simple, and has basiacally kept that idea going for years. And we all use it...who has not sold something or bought something through Craigslist? And the site, as you said, is not overly fancy, and has remained relatively unchanged since the beginning. Wow. With all the pressure to keep up with the Jones and offer more features and faster access and more options....they have held firm.
So, I love that he shows his simplistic login in his current effort. He probably has no idea anyonw would really notice. But, in fact, because of the respect we hace for him, we did. And now I think he realized that people will respond, and that he just needed to clarify how his site can be used for a greater good. Let's give him so time to figure this out and see if it works. If it does, it is win win f it does not, no harm no fowl.
The site will also serve as a mechanism to solicit Newmark as a speaker and “social media champion.It is Channel through which my support — as a speaker, board member, social media champion, traditional media source, etc. – can be solicited. I tend to be overwhelmed with requests and craigconnects will help me manage this so I can do a lot more."
Doesn't that sound like a media outlet to promote the Craig's brand rather than doing the whole world some good??
I'm not doubting Craig's intentions here as a human being but by putting the new site under his name it just does not sound appropiate if the intention was to do the world a ton of good. I guess in a couple of years from now that site will become a fundraising organization because that is just the natural way such sites evolve.
You know, I really don't think it's just a cynical attempt to get his name out in front of people. I've known Craig since before Craigslist; he was one of my neighbors, both geographically in San Francisco and virtually on the Well, where he was when he came up with the 'draigslist' concept, and he's a pretty unassuming fellow. Recall that he's shot down numerous attempts to make Craigslist more than it is in favor of keeping it a simple interface that costs most people nothing.
Keep in mind that no less than President Barack Obama was calling for a 'Craigslist for service' a year or so ago. It's not like Craig started the idea.
Also, Craig has been actively involved with AARP and that organization's mission to look on 'retirement' as more of a 'second phase of one's life,' focused on service.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes of this.
I got used to your ironic style, so it is not so easy to say, if you are ironic this time or not:)/Nevertheless, the Craiglist or Craigconnects is not THAT bad.My friend from San-Francisco told me a story: she needed her car to be fixed( something wrong with the tires, I don't really remember) but she didn't have money.So, she wrote on the Craiglist- please, can somebody help me - I have got only cookies.And actually, she got help. There was another story of her friend- who loved shopping, but didn't have much money.So she kept finding people who took her shopping.And there wasn't any sex- that was actually our first thought:)))I am not sure if it is really good for a person- to get you want always for free- but we can consider it as a good thing.
I don't want t question Craigs intentions here but by simply name of the new site in his name just tells me that he is vying for some cheap publicity here. It is normally good to have an exaggerated opionion of one's self but for Craig to think that he can in some mythical internet way unite non-profit and public organizations through craigconnects is biting too much than he can chew.
20 years?? Craig you may probably need a reincarnation if Craigconnects is be a success.
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