Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters. • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

#11

Post by lemming » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 11:05 AM UTC

JonnieCache wrote: post #10

amirmc wrote: post #5

"Casey says that hobbyists of all stripes are constantly asking the company to branch out into other domains. The couple refuses to do that, in part because they don't have the resources (Ravelry makes enough money for them to live on, but not enough to hire a second full-time software engineer), but also because they believe that cloning Ravelry wouldn't work. Instead, they say, each pastime should have a social sit…

>I found this really interesting since StackExchange took the opposite view and raised a ton of cash. I think it's good that there are some successful people out there who are questioning the dogma that ambition is the superlative human trait, that it is somehow wrong to not grow everything as much as possible, or that this should be an end in itself. Good luck to them.

This. I love Ravelry (only conceptually, I don't actually use it) because they provide a wonderfully human element to the usual tech success story. They basically built something they love for the love of doing it, and I find that much more inspiring than any amount of VC or traction.

Re: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

#12

Post by gus_massa » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 11:41 AM UTC

amirmc wrote: post #5

"Casey says that hobbyists of all stripes are constantly asking the company to branch out into other domains. The couple refuses to do that, in part because they don't have the resources (Ravelry makes enough money for them to live on, but not enough to hire a second full-time software engineer), but also because they believe that cloning Ravelry wouldn't work. Instead, they say, each pastime should have a social sit…

Joel wrote about this a few years ago (2000, before the creation of StackOverflow):

  If you're going into a market with no existing
  competition, lock-in, and network effects, you better
  use the Amazon model, or you're going the way of
  Wordsworth.com, which started two years before Amazon,
  and nobody's ever heard of them. Or even worse, you're
  going to be a ghost site like MSN Auctions with
  virtually no chance of ever overcoming ebay.

Extracted from: "Strategy Letter I: Ben and Jerry's vs. Amazon": http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000056.html

Re: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

#13

Post by arkitaip » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 12:00 PM UTC

If you have the slightest interest in online communities and social networking I strongly recommend that you sign-up for a Ravelry account and see what the fuss is about. It's truly inspiring how well-designed the community is with its knitting specific features and fun interface. If more communities took the Ravelry approach to social networking Facebook wouldn't have a chance.

Re: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

#14

Post by noelwelsh » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 12:09 PM UTC

silencio wrote: post #7

noelwelsh wrote: post #4

Ravelry is a fantastic social network. It has a load of innovations worth copying. Two examples: - On Rav anyone can create a new discussion forum, and the creators are responsible for moderating it. It allows the community to continue to grow and embrace a wider range of people who could not otherwise coexist. - Rav has a like button for ages. It also have agree, love, and disagree, IIRC. Disagree might be mistake.…

There are a LOT more buttons than that, and I enjoy how descriptive they are. There is educational, interesting, funny, agree, disagree, and love for each post. I have to say I really appreciate Ravelry having so many options for voting. I used to post a lot in one of the tech forums on Ravelry, especially in reply to one person that kept posting information that was secondhand and wildly inaccurate. Unfortunately, s…

I knew I'd forgotten a bunch of the buttons... You just reminded me about the "your ears are burning" feature -- if your name is mentioned in a thread you get a message about it, so you can jump in and see what people are talking about.

Re: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

#15

Post by liedra » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 12:21 PM UTC

The article hit the nail on the head - this community was built from within, by people who know and love their craft.

It's hard to see a similar thing becoming a more "general" community - reputation is a strongly guarded thing in these tighter-knit communities (woe betide you if you rip someone off on a pattern or steal money/etc. from other knitters, or don't come through on a swap).

Also it's a great way to get involved in the indie craft scene. Crafting materials can be hard to acquire, especially good quality and variety of fibres and yarns, so it's great to be able to go to the source of indie dyers and spinners to get hand-made and custom work done. I know of several indie dyers who would not exist if it hadn't been for Ravelry. Anyone can have an immediate audience for their related goods and services, and there is a great appreciation for quality work (whether it is dying, spinning, or pattern-designing). This sort of immediately accessible feedback is really good for community building.

I don't think it'd be a good idea for all communities to copy Ravelry piece for piece, since it's such a contextual site, but you can certainly think of Ravelry as a case study for an excellent design and response to user needs.

Re: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

#16

Post by habitatforus » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 1:05 PM UTC

My mom doesn't get Facebook or Twitter, but she keeps telling me to go to Ravelry to see the pictures she posts of a new scarf. If knitting is your thing, the site is horrible addictive.

Re: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

#17

Post by follownicholas » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 1:13 PM UTC

habitatforus wrote: post #16

My mom doesn't get Facebook or Twitter, but she keeps telling me to go to Ravelry to see the pictures she posts of a new scarf. If knitting is your thing, the site is horrible addictive.

My Mom is the same way. She is on Ravelry constantly and absolutely loves it for the same reasons.

Re: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

#18

Post by gallamine » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 1:14 PM UTC

arkitaip wrote: post #13

If you have the slightest interest in online communities and social networking I strongly recommend that you sign-up for a Ravelry account and see what the fuss is about. It's truly inspiring how well-designed the community is with its knitting specific features and fun interface. If more communities took the Ravelry approach to social networking Facebook wouldn't have a chance.

I agree. Back in 2008 when I was planning a social site for robotics, I registered and poked around on Ravelry. Even back then it was on fire.

They raised $70,000 dollars in DONATIONS from their members in order to do some growth back them. That's insane.

Re: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

#19

Post by raleec » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 1:14 PM UTC

noelwelsh wrote: post #4

Ravelry is a fantastic social network. It has a load of innovations worth copying. Two examples: - On Rav anyone can create a new discussion forum, and the creators are responsible for moderating it. It allows the community to continue to grow and embrace a wider range of people who could not otherwise coexist. - Rav has a like button for ages. It also have agree, love, and disagree, IIRC. Disagree might be mistake.…

The coder (Casey) has a blog: http://codemonkey.ravelry.com/

also of interest, the tech behind the site: http://codemonkey.ravelry.com/2010/03/24/ravelry-runs-on-201...

Re: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

#20

Post by brudgers » Thu, Jul 07, 2011, 1:16 PM UTC

The title of the article is misleading because it ignores fundamental differences between online communities and online social networks in the sense of Facebook, Myspace, etc.

While Facebook may have areas in which digital communities form, it is a constructed primarily to facilitate and track communications between people with existing real world relationships - for users it is ateleological. On the other hand, Ravelry has a sense of purpose - better knitting - which creates an overall community.

People on sites like Ravelry interact extensively and willingly with people they only know and often meet online because they are members of the same digital community. This is generally not the case with Facebook et al. where interactions are largely between people who have met face to face at some point. This means that Ravelry's social graph is constructed digitally on the site - unlike Facebook, for online communities where one went to junior high school is far more difficult to determine and there's no reason for your mom to join unless she is interested in knitting.