• Ravelry, the knitting social network, raises $71K from its users. First amazing thing (to me, a non-knitter) is that Ravelry even exists. There truly is a place for everyone on the big ol’ Internet, and with each community a corresponding business opportunity. Second interesting thing is that the donation drive was user initiated. I wonder if it will be a regular occurrence. I like the idea of community supported social networks, but I doubt it is a sustainable model. Indeed Ravelry’s primary sources of income are advertising and affiliation fees
• Lessons on building online communities from the people behind Flickr. Two key points: Firstly, it takes a lot of effort to grow a community, and the creators have to get involved in that early stage. Later on, it’s best to get out of the way and let the members decide for themselves what the community is like. The discussion of Flickr’s design, intentionally personal but unobtrusive, is a great point and reminds me of the service at the best restaurants.
• If I understand Clay Shirky correctly, drinking gin is the original form of blogging. Bottoms up! Seriously, at least skim read the text. Note that some evidence suggests at least part of thesis does not hold.

Update: More thoughts on Ravelry