Freecycle is going downhill in a big way

[cjsmith]

I just got an "admin" post from our local list admin. He's laying down a big pile of rules about how not to use the word "freecycle" in a sentence.

Apparently, despite the fact that it seems to have been chosen for the closest possible resemblance to the word "recycle", it is *against the rules* to use it as a verb. Not only do they think they can enforce this, they think it's a good idea to try.

The last example indicates they don't want it to be a noun, either.

This is one of the strongest examples of "rules for the sake of rules, and for no other good reason" I've seen in a long time. All together now: SHEESH.

Let's just say if the Freecycle folks start kicking people out for recognizing the cleverness that THEY THEMSELVES STARTED with the choice of word, I'm going to start giving things away for free in a far less organized manner.

Comments

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

Um? Trademarked? I've heard people using the word "freecycle" for awhile now. It's right up there with "precycling" (buying products on the basis of how you'll deal with their packaging).

Here in the bay area, there's a lesbian mailing list that's years old now, and a LOT of 'freecycling' goes on on that list. It's less useful b/c the women are spread out all over the very-much-greater-bay-area.

Also, my darling wife Bean is on 2 freecycle lists: the Oakland one and the East Bay one. She says that one of them is a ton more useful than the other. Fwiw. She *also* says that people keep posting, looking for certain things. Which would be fine if it were cardboard boxes, or something. But she keeps seeing posts saying things like "Does anyone have a spare ticket to Europe lying around?" and that's just so stoopid.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yep, trademarked. Sigh.

I can definitely see that the lists could vary widely in usefulness. And yeah, I do wish some folks who "neeeeeeeeeed" luxuries or a whole household of furniture (but never have anything to offer) would quit posting. :)