Firefly was an early web community based on the technology which helped people to connect based on shared interests. From its inception in 1995, the site amassed a user base of over one million individuals from 50 countries covering nearly every interest and background imaginable. When the service was stopped in 1999, the community was preemptively closed, but it left behind the footprint of one of the largest organically grown communities on the web.

Since the service did not supplant other communication technologies (such as email or instant messaging), it can be assumed that the social ties made within the system emerged from its use. Each user specified their interests, ranging from music and movies to academic pursuits, and also their network of friends. New users were able to assimilate by finding others with like-minded interests, and browsing their list of friends.

This paper presents some preliminary observations on the structure of the Firefly community: a comparison of the interests of users with explicit social ties, the relationship between explicitly stated social ties, and those that emerged from private communication, and a comparison of the network properties of users classified by gender, age, country, and time of adoption.