Craigslist Flagging - How does it work?

Hello, I posted this in the marketing forum before, but obviously it doesn't belong there. I am interested in what people know about the craigslist flagging system.

For those who don't know about it, the craigslist flagging system is used to create a "democratic" monitoring system for the site; thus making it largely manageable by the community in which it resides. I've used craigslist for a long time and know the ins and outs of Ghosting/Banning, but one thing I have not mastered is understanding the flagging system.

Here's a snippet of the code from the <div> of the righthand flagger:
Code:

<div id="flagChooser">
			<br>
			<a class="fl" id="flag16" href="/flag/?flagCode=16&amp;postingID=1293966876"
				title="Wrong category, wrong site, discusses another post, or otherwise misplaced">
				miscategorized</a>
			<a class="fl" id="flag28" href="/flag/?flagCode=28&amp;postingID=1293966876"
				title="Violates craigslist Terms Of Use or other posted guidelines">
				prohibited</a>
			<a class="fl" id="flag15" href="/flag/?flagCode=15&amp;postingID=1293966876"
				title="Posted too frequently, in multiple cities/categories, or is too commercial">
				spam/overpost</a>
			<a class="fl" id="flag9" href="/flag/?flagCode=9&amp;postingID=1293966876"
				title="Should be considered for inclusion in the Best-Of-Craigslist">
				best of craigslist</a>
		</div>

Code (markup):

Notice the flag Id's associated with each flag:
flag16 - miscategorized
flag28 - prohibited
flag15 - spam/overpost
flag9 - best of craigslist

There is also another flag id to notify the poster (only appears if they do not include an email address to reply to):

flag30 - notify the seller



When you click any of the given flags, it will take you to the next page with the url:

http://*city*.craigslist.org/flag/?flagCode=28&postingID=*id of posting*

(If you try url hacking and put ?flagCode=90 or whatever, the post is not immediately taken down. So they probably prohibit flagCode > 30?)


So here's my take. Add (or subtract) from a starting point, for example 0 or 100 respectively, and once it reaches that threshold a certain action will be taken. These numbers are fairly unique, thus it is possibly able to distinguish between what is flagged as "best of" and what is flagged as "prohibited". Also, such a system would explain why "best of" would need to have a greater number of users to vote for it, whereas "prohibited"/"contact the poster" would need less since these need to be dealt with more promptly.

I've also heard that once an ad has been flagged off the ip/email/website/ad text requires less flags in order to be taken down any subsequent occasions.


Anyways, what are yall's thoughts?

 

If it was me, I would take other things into consideration, like: How long a person been posting ads? Automatic posting: how soon was it confirmed from posting and how many other ads posted by the same person in the same time frame.

 

I would agree with 'ThePHPMaster' that it probably is a multifaceted calculation, although multiple flags by several users is definitely a necessity.