Craig Newmark-Quiet Celebrity of the San Francisco Web
by Jackie Cuneo
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I had the great privilege of sitting down Craig Newmark, known for his now famous "Craig's List". Yes, there is a quiet, gentle man sitting behind the curtain at www.cnewmark.com. This well-known web destination is one of the foremost spots for finding daily job listings, available apartments, and local community news for the San Francisco and the Silicon Valley. I jumped at the opportunity to talk with Craig, since I often spend the first 5 minutes of my workday peeking to see who's hiring, who's moving, and who's got something to say to his or her fellow web users.
When Craig first sat down, he asked if I might tell the Be-In audience that he looked a bit like Jason Alexander, the actor who plays a complaining, self-serving nerd who plays Seinfeld's right hand man on the hit TV series of the same name. No way. In spite of his wire-rimmed glasses and tilted fedora, Craig's warmth and dedication to keeping us computer users connected to the human side of technology overshadowed any likeness to TV's most famous whiner. Although Craig is a self-proclaimed geek, (who tells me he embodies the full "nerd cliche"), he showed me the quiet pride he obviously feels for his bulletin-board-list-turned-foundation in our meeting tonight
After a relatively short time distributing information for free using complex Java and CGI scripts, Craig has now turned his community information service from a hobby's work into a non-profit foundation with the generous help of Nancy Maloney, Weezy Muth, and Christina Murphy. These three women saw the potential for community connection and distribution of useful information, and have assured that no matter how busy Craig may become in his career as a hard-core programmer, the good work he started with Craig's List will continue to grow and improve.
Craig seems to be quite humble about the social effect his list has had on the web. Craig and I had a moment to contemplate the ways that technology can separate men and women. Craig remarked that "in mixed-gender conversation, men tend to push out women unintentionally. The web is a great equalizer, both in gender relations and in a lot of other ways. This is my way of using technology to connect people rather than separating them. "
Another perk which has come from the list are the tremendously popular Craig's List parties which have evolved to full-blown schmoozefests. Of these monthly gatherings, Craig explains, "they feel like a block party where people can connect in whatever way feels good to them, " but adds, "there is a second agenda--people helping each other find jobs. " Originally, the parties were relatively small, held in Climate Theater's Anon Salon space. But as word has traveled over the wire about Craig's List, the parties have grown large enough to fill a San Francisco nightclub. The next Craig's List party will be held at Club VSF, at 11th and Folsom in San Francisco, on February 5th. The author notes that 1998 is the year Craig resolves to get a social life. . . be sure to introduce yourself at the party!
Before I end our chat, I ask him to tell me the thing he values most about Craig's List. He flashes his gentle smile from under the fedora once more and confesses, "the sense of community and intimacy it has created--to my surprise. "
