Michael Black wrote:

But no, instead, people always want to talk about "freecycle" as if
some bozo invented the notion of giving away stuff a few years back.
They can't conceive of doing it without "freecycle".

Freecycle makes it much more convenient since you often have stuff that
you a) can't put out on the street because it's so small that no one
would see it, b) has a limited appeal but may appeal to someone in a
freecycle community of thousands, or c) that Goodwill or Salvation Army
won't take. The flip side of Freecycle is that you can ask for things
that someone may have laying around unused, but that they never thought
to offer up. Following your logic, you could go through the neighborhood
knocking on doors asking if anyone had what you want.