The Long Tail of Craigslist: Movie Review

Asaf Buchner | January 25, 2006, 10:53 AM

When I moved to New York, craigslist was my friend. I was therefore compelled to go and see “24 hours on craigslist” as it debuted here yesterday at the Pioneer Theater. The movie, which is rather amusing, interviews selected people behind 24 hours of postings on craigslist San Francisco. In an attempt to be interesting and funny the focus is on seemingly out of the ordinary postings, such as people organizing flashmob gatherings or a person selling 250 surplus army pants. As a paraphrase to Wired’s long-tail argument, the movie makes the claim that craigslist enabled people with rare interests or unique items to find the right crowd. I tend to agree: although newspaper classifieds were around for a long time, posting on craigslist is not only easier, cheaper (free), and has a wider reach but it also offers an instant gratification, which is unavailable with newspaper ads.