ABSTRACT

Twitter offers an insight into the everyday experience of Freecycle, different in format and somewhat different in tone from the Mumsnet discussions. The Freecycle network is a movement initiated in 2003, which now claims over 7 million members worldwide, divided into individual local groups each with their own online mailing lists. Freecycle networks have been described as forming a “technologically generated community” focused around, although not confined to, online interactions. The basic message format in online gifting groups allows for few social frills. The chapter demonstrates that autoethnography is a powerful tool for exploring the ambiguities and uncertainties inherent in Internet usage and for exploring how online and offline sites are connected in contingent and flexible fashion. It focuses on a phenomenon which relies upon the capacity of the Internet to connect together people who have not previously met, based on some common interests or concerns.