Craigslist's Hassle And Thoughts on Civility

To post on Craigslist, you are now required to have an account, which includes providing them your phone number.

So much for privacy.

My support for Craigslist just went into the toilet, which is likely a good thing for me given there is very little in the way of intelligent, respectful communication (most consisting of juvenile insults and other such nonsense). That and their help wanted section is full of misleading ads. I followed up on one recently, which said hey we'll pay you $42,000 a year for data entry in our offices in Corvallis/Albany. I had already determined these ads were bogus, but decided to follow up, with one question. Where are you located? Corvallis or Albany? I received no response. Of course I didn't. But my spam folder did increase.

Something has happened to our society since the birth of online communications and other technology. People are free to mislead others with false ads. Proper spelling and grammar has gone out the window, so much that some college professors are calling for an inclusion and recognition of such words and tossing out their formerly spelled and pronounced counterparts. And need I speak about the behavior of disagreeing folks interacting with one another? Then there's the bully mentality that has permeated the internet like an out-of-control virus. Two extreme recent cases include the young girl who thought she was corresponding with a boy who was interested in her, when in fact it was a neighbor girl down the street who had nothing better to do with her time than to mislead and abuse someone. When the neighbor girl told the young girl that he/she was no longer interested and began telling the young girl how worthless she was, the young girl killed herself. And we all know of the teenage male who killed himself live on the internet while people cheered him on. As someone who was the victim of repeated childhood bullying all the way through, believe it or not, my junior year of college, I know the lasting, deep scars these experiences leave. It paints a world that is unsafe and unkind in the deep recesses of the mind.

Is this the legacy we wish to leave as a species? Have we become so aloof and apathetic as we go about our daily lives, addicted to our little gadgets? Do we really believe it's ok to lie to others, take advantage of desperate folks, all to make a dollar? And good lord, where did the behavior of cheering on a deeply pained suicidal person originate? Mom and Dad America, are you paying any attention at all to what your kids are doing?

The original post I was going to speak of on Craigslist was about karma. Life has taught me there is indeed something to this concept, although it isn't a perfect system. We all know of way too many examples to know some people just seem to escape karma (usually those with the most money and power). So while the Universe may respond in its nonjudmental way, it is also up to us, you and me, to see to it that people are held accountable for harmful behaviors. Doing so in a firm, grounded, unwaivering and civilized manner is the way to do so.

Yes, some civility would be a nice thing these days. And perhaps less glorified/sensationalized attention given to those who are in need of such behavior. I believe partly what has happened is that some have it in their minds that freedom means the right to do whatever one wants, without consequence or consideration for others. That is certainly not what freedom is about.

In so far as young kids bullying one another through technological means: Perhaps we need to monitor our children's technology activity to ensure they are being treated with respect and to ensure they are treating others with the same respect. We wouldn't let a child operate a vehicle without knowing how to drive responsibly. As such, we shouldn't let kids operate a computer, cell phone, etc. without knowing how to operate them responsibly.

A Return of Civility. By Earthmama Nina.