There was no moderation and Newmark was surprised when people started using the mailing list for non-event postings. The number of subscribers and postings grew rapidly. Most of the early postings were submitted by Newmark and were notices of social events of interest to software and Internet developers living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. In early 1995, he began an email distribution list to friends. Having observed people helping one another in friendly, social, and trusting communal ways on the Internet via the WELL, MindVox and Usenet, and feeling isolated as a relative newcomer to San Francisco, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark decided to create something similar for local events.
Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, in 2006