St. John's News

Craig Newmark, founder of one of the world's most popular Web sites, craigslist, spoke to over 150 students, faculty and administrators in the Donovan Community Room, at St. John's University Queens campus on February 7, 2008.  The Learning Communities program and College of Professional Studies sponsored the event during which Newmark spoke about what influenced him to launch the site and how invaluable it is to building a sense of community.

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Newmark began his speech with the disclaimer that his success came by accident, "I have no vision whatsoever and I'm not an entrepreneur" he said. Growing up in Morristown, NJ, Newmark admitted he wasn't the most social person and spent most of his childhood living out what he called the "nerd stereotype." Being left out led him to the Internet where he felt a sense of inclusion. Moving to San Francisco, CA, after graduating from Case Western Reserve University as a computer science major, he felt that a sense of community was lacking and began to e-mail people he knew about different events that were happening in the San Francisco area. It was his search for a sense of community in a major city that sparked the idea for the community-based Web site. The e-mails he sent eventually turned into a Web site with 9.5 billion page views per month, craigslist.org.

His belief in a culture of trust and that all people are good is what makes him certain that a user-generated Web site like craigslist is what people need in order to successfully navigate their life, "I help single moms find babysitters and people who want to rent apartments find homes." He said craigslist was founded on the belief that people truly want to help one another, and craigslist is a platform that allows them to do so. These altruistic beliefs not only represent the values of the Vincentian mission, but those of St. John’s students themselves. 

Currently in charge of customer service for the site, Newmark has relinquished the position of Chief Executive Officer to Jim Buckmaster. Buckmaster's expertise in Web site development made him the ideal person to run the corporation. Newmark claimed he was never successful at the role of being in charge and learned that the best way to run the company was to find someone who would do a better job than he could, "I've made some big mistakes in the past, but I've definitely learned from them."

Newmark's love for community involvement was more important than any monetary gain he could receive by selling the company or allowing for invasive advertising like pop-ups or banner ads. "Simple and fast" is his mantra, and he constantly has to turn down offers to clutter the site with "useless graphics and fancy interfaces" that would essentially slow the site down. When a student asked Newmark how he sees the site changing in the future, Newmark said he plans to add more cities and countries and create an interface that allows the site to become more accessible on mobile phones. "We're not interested in selling the site anytime soon" Newmark promised. He said he owes all his success to the users of the site who constantly give him feedback about what's missing or needs to be changed. His hands-on approach to running craigslist keeps him involved in all aspects of the site, from the content to potential hackers, "The world is all about networking and with my name on the site I take it personally.”

Newmark’s strong belief in the building of social communities is indicative of St. John’s Learning Communities program. The Learning Communities program, one of the sponsors of the event, is a vehicle for students to engage with other students and faculty through programs and events outside of the classroom. One of the major goals of the program is to connect students with professionals in a field that might be of interest to them.