Demand Satisfaction!

Craig Newmark is a customer service rep. No, for real.

I stumbled upon Craig Newmark’s business card on Flickr, and he lists himself as “customer service rep & founder” on that card. (Note that “founder” is second in that title.) It’s always refreshing to see the person in charge of a large organization embrace customer service instead of just pay lip service to it.

This customer service bent is not actually a new development. Craig has been slowly transitioning away from being the head of Craigslist and more toward being an ambassador of the ideas behind Craigslist. But it’s still telling that he chose to redefine his role as one that is devoted to customer service.

The reason I’ve been stuck on Craigslist lately — the reason I found myself on Flickr and found Craig’s business card — is that they’ve finally decided to write a blog. It’s about time. I’ve spent countless hours howling with laughter at the Best of Craigslist and wondering why they don’t take the wealth of interestingness that exists on Craigslist and spotlight it in some way. I was always flummoxed when I went searching for the inside scoop or some kind of commentary about what they were up to. I always wondered why there wasn’t a blog.

Although, I’m not sure if spotlighting amusing content is what they’ll do with the new Craigslist blog. I’m not really sure if they have a plan. The blog doesn’t appear to have a name. At least, it doesn’t have a catchy name. It seems to just be called “craigslist blog.” Like the Craigslist site itself, it lacks panache and style and, well, formatting of any kind. It’s under-designed, you might say. It can’t be subscribed to via RSS, so you’ll just have to check back whenever you think there might be something new to read. I think it still needs some work. This blog is clearly in its infancy, but I wish it great success because I know that I — like countless others in this world — have gotten a lot out of Craigslist. I wouldn’t mind giving back.

Which brings me to my real thought: Craig Newmark has an amazingly healthy and giving community that could write an award-winning community blog. I bet they would love the opportunity. I know I’d contribute.

Would you? If you have ideas about Craigslist’s new blog — or any other ideas about what Craigslist should or shouldn’t do as it tamps the dirt down on the grave of newspaper classified ads — share them with us.

[Craigslist is on Get Satisfaction.]