Do You Like Craigslist? Try Expo

[Dale King]

I'm personally not a bg fan of Craigslist, but I know millions of people are. So if you're one of those people who likes Craigslist, you should check out Microsoft's version called Expo.

Expo - Free Online Classifieds

Like Craigslist, Expo features a list of categories on its home page, which users can localize by ZIP code or city. Users may also search for specific items. When users post new listings, they are asked to tag their listing by ZIP code, and they may also include their exact address for advertising garage sales or for listing real estate for sale or rent. Then, when prospective customers click on the ad, they can see a satellite image of the home.

Now here's what's really cool about Expo. Expo users can choose to view only listings from people in their MSN Messenger contact list or personal e-mail groups. MSN Messenger users will see a pulsating star next to the name of anyone on their list who has recently placed a new item for sale on Expo or made a new posting on MSN Spaces, Microsoft's popular blogging service.

Dale King

[stand856]

It looks ok, time will tell, one thing they have to do is screening the posts.

[CurlyBrace]

Craigslist's format is too simple, and Expo's is just like all MS-related social sites. It's MS, so I doubt that they will fail, but let's see...

I'm not a fan of Craigslist either.

[Woodcs82]

Craigslist is a lot better IMHO

[byzantium]

Craigslist's problem is that literally anybody can post anything, and literally anybody can remove anything they don't like. The personals section is filled with fake ads tied to the Russian mob, and the rants and raves board is chaos, with mad flaggers flagging everything they don't like and reposters who repost what gets flagged.

The average IQ of the posters is "rock" (as in the decorative boulder in your front yard), with some rising to the level of "amoeba". The Reno board has its fixtures, such as the guy who blames Jews for every single thing that has ever or will ever go wrong, and the guy who has been bashing a certain cheap dive bar in a seedy part of town for the last three weeks. Most people can't use proper English.

The Sacramento R&R is even worse, with about four or five people trading lame insults. The for sale ads also have people with rock level IQs. The real estate boards are full of local property management companies' spam. The "job offers" are for things like Herbalife. CL has zero moderation, so anything goes, including prostitution, child sex, and occasional outbreaks of bestiality (usually with dogs).

It wouldn't be difficult to improve on CL. I figure that like most of Microsoft's content services, Expo will limp along with few users but supported by MS's massive pile of cash. The only thing they've really done right is Hotmail. They're a software company, not an internet content provider.