10 Tips: How to be a 'freecycler'

Hmph, maybe is a good thing to keep ones' religion out of public discourse that's not ABOUT religion.

Moderators can be heavy handed (I doubt anyone here ever posted on FIDO tho) keeping their group on topic... but if they don't, posts like this one run rampant ;)

=M0=

I started an official Freecycle™ network group for my very rural county two years ago. Each group and region is different. Most decisions not regulated by Freecycle™ proper are at the discretion of the group listowner/mods, or the coordinator for all the groups within that region.

I'm always disappointed upon hearing of tyrannical group owners/mods. The habitually ruthless ones certainly give the Freecycle™ movement a black eye. There's seldom just cause outside of failure to abide by the Freecycle™ network rules.

Unethical group owner/mod conduct should be reported to the central contact address: info@freecycle.org Please be sure to include all pertinent info.

It's important to keep in mind that individual Freecycle™ groups are run by non-paid volunteers. Like our group members, we're human too. One thing we all have in common is that we're all trying to make a positive difference.

AARRGGHH!

One thing that is never mentioned in these news stories about freecycle is all their over-the-top not always applicable rules that some crazy moderators stick to to a fault. Don't you dare forget to delete your company's or your own business or even bible verse signature off your email! Don't you dare post something in two equal distance surrounding towns' freecycle sites at the same time! Don't you dare question the moderator, have them tell you all the rules are up to the freecycle oranization, and then have the freecycle organization itself tell you all the rules are up the the moderator, and then get kicked off the site by the nazi moderator!

Oh yes, I've been a member of Freecycle since early 2004, when I left NJ and moved to Florida. When I moved, I gave away basically an entire apartment full of furniture, housewares, even my old wedding dress...and more.

When I moved to Florida, I was lucky enough to even get a few things that I needed.

Most recently though, our local Freecycle group is turning into a Dictatorship and it's becoming very frustrating. Moderator's tweak the rules to their own liking and creating their own rules. Groups are not supposed to be 100% moderated, yet the ones here are. And, sometimes it can take a day or two for your post to even show up! I realize it's a volunteer organization, but if you're going to be a moderator, and going to moderate every post, then you really should make time to do it regularly.

The newest thing here, is not that you have to put a general location in the subject line, but you have to actually put your cross streets. And, when you post a wanted ad, you can no longer ask to borrow something.

When I asked about my posts being moderated after having been a member for 4 years, I was told that since I hadn't given anything away in 6 months, that I was put on moderated status again. When I replied that I wasn't aware that there was a requirement to give things away on a regular basis, I was met with a nasty response.

I think, that if they want to make these strict rules, perhaps they should look into all of the people who simply reply to everything posted, copying and pasting the same "I'll take it" line in every one, without even a please, or thank you.

I wrote to info@freecycle.org and haven't received a response.

I've started posting free things on Craigslist now instead, but even that has it's downside, as anyone can flag any post for any reason and it will be deleted. In a Craigslist forum, asking why a post of mine had been deleted, I was told because I had written "New, In Box"...just absurd is what it is. And, in that same forum, some jackass was bragging about how they and their friends just flag posts for the hell of it.

I think the idea of Freecycle is really a great one, but when the "power" of moderator goes to someone's head, it's a disaster in the making.

TAB~

Dang, TAB. I'm scared to ask what FC group(s) you're a member of. And I'll be the last person to argue the necessary nature of timely moderation- not just on FC. Still, your group's rules seem pretty extreme. Are you in a large group or area? Those have the most challenges, considering demographics, group activity level, etc.

Requiring that cross-streets be posted is BS. Talk about privacy and security issues! Yeah, I'd raise hell over that, too.