Social Media & Knitting: A Match Made in Heaven

It is easy to see that the omnipresence of the Internet, social media, and networking tools have drastically changed the ways in which people communicate with each other. Time and space become insignificant - if you want to see someone, you can use Skype. Hungry,  but don't want to talk on the phone? Order your pizza online. Improvements in technology have allowed us to communicate instantly with people all over the globe. This phenomenon has helped to bring together people with the same interests, and those people can easily create communities in which to share their passions.

One such community that has flourished over the past few years is the online knitting community. Once considered a solitary activity, knitting has evolved from a household task to a creative activity in which fellow knitters can share their creations. The invention of the knitting machine in the late 19th century eliminated the need to make basic clothing, and allowed knitters to create beautiful pieces for their own enjoyment. Naturally, if you create something gorgeous, you want to show everyone... right? Right. Enter Ravelry.

Source: Ravelry.com

The knitting community has clearly embraced the Groundswell in nearly every aspect. Ravelry, the largest online knitting community, currently has 1,323,934 registered users, with 86,414 of those users visiting the site in the previous 24 hours. This sheer amount of users is incredible in itself, but what Ravelry has done for the knitting community is even more impressive. Ravelry allows users from all over the world to collaborate on projects, ask for help and opinions, and provide feedback for designers and yarn companies. (For more on Ravelry, see my previous post.)

Many yarn companies have taken Li and Bernoff's advice: "Why build it if you can join it?" (p. 173) With such an active community as Ravelry, yarn companies have no incentive to build communities of their own, because they will not be as successful. Instead, yarn companies are creating presences in Ravelry groups, by adding their yarns to the database, creating fan groups, and listening and talking with the Groundswell.

For example, WEBS, the largest yarn store in the country, provides discount codes for certain yarns on their Twitter and Facebook. Only people who "like" WEBS on Facebook can use these codes. By providing an incentive for spectators to participate in the Groundswell, WEBS increases traffic to their site, which will eventually offset the cost of the discount.

Source: WEBS on Facebook

By participating in Ravelry forums, yarn companies can also provide an outlet for their customers to provide reviews on certain yarns, get customer support, and ask for advice. Most of the posts are from knitters who are extremely enthusiastic and passionate about their favorite yarns, so these yarn companies are also gaining free publicity from word-of-mouth.

Online knitters are also embracing other tools to share their projects, like Flickr and YouTube. My Flickr (also on the right side of my blog) shows photos of projects that I've completed. There are also photo tutorials on Flickr that will teach other knitters particular techniques or stitches. YouTube is also popular for video tutorials. To this day, I can't do Judy's Magic Cast-On without watching Cat Bordhi's video!

Source: frecklegirl on Flickr

Often times, the Internet is given a bad reputation for allowing people to become anti-social. However, in this case, I would argue that the Internet and social media have actually facilitated in-person group meetings. For example, the founders of Ravelry recently traveled from Boston to Wisconsin for the Madison Knitters' Guild Knit-In. Jess and Casey travel frequently, and they usually give presentations on Ravelry and how social media has impacted the knitting community. They also blog about their experiences during and after the conventions!

Conventions like the National NeedleArts Association's yearly trade shows and the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, New York bring together knitters who would normally only interact via the Internet. Jess and Casey also facilitate Ravelry meetups, where Ravelry friends can meet in person!

Social media, including forums and rating systems, have radically changed the way in which knitting is viewed. Now, knitting is "in." The whole "do-it-yourself" (DIY) culture is extremely popular, and knitting holds a special place in that culture. Ravelry is like the online "home base" for knitters around the world. An old-fashioned activity like knitting could have faded away very easily, but the online knitting community has allowed it to flourish. I can only imagine it will become even more popular over time.

For more information on my sources, please see my Delicious homepage. And follow me on Twitter to continue the conversation on knitting and social media!

Social Media & Knitting

5, 6, 7, 8...

Chapter 9 of Groundswell describes how to help the groundswell support itself through online communities and forums. The most important point to remember in maintaining an online community is that once you build it, you need to support it. A community that was created but has only 3 posts in a forum thread is not going to last very long. People who are looking for help will not turn to a sparsely-used community for answers.

While reading this chapter, I was strongly reminded of a community that I helped maintain - DanceStudioOwner.com. In order to get the whole picture, you'll need a little backstory... so here goes!

My family has been involved in dance for several years now. My younger sister started dancing at Kathy Blake Dance Studios after attending a friend's birthday party there in middle school, and my mother was hired as the KBDS Costume Manager a year later. I became involved when I started working as an office assistant, and eventually I worked my way up to working as the sound technician for recital week. My dad works as KBDS' "tech guy." As you can see, we all spend a LOT of time at the studio.

Over the summer of 2010, I had the pleasure of working for Suzanne Blake Gerety, the vice-president of KBDS and co-owner of DanceStudioOwner.com, a community for dance studio owners. While working for Suzanne, I learned the ins and outs of running an online community. I plan on completing my internship for the MSPC program with Suzanne this summer as well.

DanceStudioOwner.com's home page gives users quick access to its wealth of resources.

I like to call DanceStudioOwner.com a "dance studio in a box." It provides dance studio owners with any resource they could ever need. Dance studio owners can purchase a membership to the site to access all its features, including articles, support forums, podcasts, and printable resources (such as handbooks and coloring pages for younger students). The resources on the site cover virtually any question a studio owner could come up with, from "How do you deal with bossy parents?" to "How do you handle late payments?" to "How do I prevent injuries?" DanceStudioOwner.com (DSO) covers the gamut of issues that could arise in the dance world.

Similar to Massachusetts General Hospital's CarePages system, DanceStudioOwner.com allows dance studio owners to focus on making their business profitable by helping them with the smaller (but still important) details. CarePages allowed patients to focus on resting and getting better while allowing them to stay in close contact with their family and friends (pg. 155). DanceStudioOwner.com also inspires people who are passionate about dance, and brings them together in a virtual community where they can share their passions.



DanceStudioOwner.com created this video to share the passion of dance.
By building passion, DanceStudioOwner.com can build up their reputation through users' testimonials. Like Li and Bernoff say, "Why not let your fans buzz about you and build passion for your programs?" (pg. 164). Similar to Proctor & Gamble's beinggirl.com community, DSO addresses dance in a more encompassing way, not just by advertising products. Because the DanceStudioOwner.com forums discuss the entire dance studio ownership experience, it creates a safe space for users to discuss their experiences without feeling like they are being shouted at.

Suzanne Blake Gerety, a co-owner of DSO, has mastered the concepts of being a trust agent. She is especially good at being a human artist - or someone who is able to communicate with people in a real and meaningful way. (Follow her on Twitter!) Along with Kathy Blake, her mother and the other co-owner of DSO, she is able to relate to the members of the community and help them through their small business journey. By helping the groundswell support itself, DSO was able to create a vibrant and welcoming community of dance studio owners around the world!

How "Connection" Erodes Intimacy

The perceived need to be constantly connected to all of your friends is becoming a problem for face-to-face, personal, and private interactions. The networked public has brought about a general shift in attitudes -- what was once private is now public, and nothing is off-limits. The social networking technologies have even seeped into one of the most private aspects of a person's social life -- their love life.

About a week before finals began in the Fall 2010 semester, a new social network emerged, quietly at first, but then spread like wildfire. I'm talking about LikeALittle. LikeALittle is formatted similar to Twitter, and it has separate pages for different college campuses across the country. The basic concept behind LikeALittle is to provide a space for students to "flirt" anonymously with other students. Here you can see the example that is auto-populated on Clark's homepage:

Who wouldn't want to receive a message like that?

After a "flirt" is posted, other students can comment anonymously on it, and users can choose to "like" a post, or even send a private message to the author. Personally, I think it's a brilliant idea! It allows shy students to flirt with other students in their "native language," via the Internet. The site has exploded since December 2010, and I would not be surprised if they released a smartphone application soon. They are constantly hiring new staff.

Most of the posts on LikeALittle are innocent enough. Some examples include: "laughter is the best cure, and you're so good at it. i'd be your girl, if you just noticed it," and "Cute tallish one. I've seen you glancing :) Come say hi already!" However, some of the posts can get inappropriate quickly, which is why LikeALittle recruits moderators to make sure everything stays lighthearted and fun.

Students can use LikeALittle to say things they normally wouldn't in person.

Although I love the idea, I admit it becomes a little problematic. Whatever happened to passing a note across the classroom, or hesitantly asking someone to go see a movie? Sites like LikeALittle make those first romantic interactions less serious, and somehow less real. Because it is completely anonymous, its users are more likely to post things they would not say straight to that person's face.

The LikeALittle creators are taking advantage of the ideas of blurred boundaries, because they know they can reach their target audience at any moment. LikeALittle has also linked with Facebook, which is a smart strategy. By connecting their site to Facebook, the creators of LikeALittle can tap into the network of Joiners (using Groundswell terminology) and encourage them to become Creators or Critics.

The LikeALittle authors have established a community, much like Procter & Gamble's beinggirl.com. Their community was established around the problems young girls face every day. LikeALittle was established around the problems faced by shy students who want to meet new people. Since LikeALittle is not selling a product, they don't run the risk of shouting at their users.

If only it were that easy! (Source: http://globalthoughtz.com)

Personally, given the choice to make an anonymous "flirt" on LikeALittle or to actually speak to my crush in person, I would choose the offline interaction. Because LikeALittle is anonymous, the chances of your crush actually figuring out who you are are slim to none. If you seriously want to try and go on a date or even start a relationship, LikeALittle is not the way to go.

Where my stitches at?

I have been an avid knitter and crocheter for about two years now. I think the younger generation of knitters, such as myself, view the craft differently from those of older generations. For example, I use the Internet to look up patterns and techniques.

One resource I came across that I use every day is Ravelry. Ravelry is a virtual community for knitters and crocheters, which offers many resources, like forums to talk with other crafters, collections of patterns, and even a database of yarn! Ravelry is a great way to connect with other knitters and crocheters around the world. I use Ravelry frequently to ask for help when I get stuck on projects, and the members are very willing to help each other out!

Here is the Ravelry login page (Click on the photos for a larger view):

See the Boston Terrier in the middle? That's Bob. He's Ravelry's mascot! 

In order to use Ravelry's resources, you need to sign up for a free account. But after that, you can organize your own knitting and crocheting projects, yarn stash, and your needles and hooks.

This is my profile:

Profile pages are like your "home base" on Ravelry.

My profile page shows my username, my profile pictures, some information about me, a thumbnail of my blog, and a collage of some of my finished objects. It also shows how many projects I've finished, how many patterns are in my queue, how many projects, patterns, or yarns I've saved as my favorites, and how many friends I have.

This is my project page:

This is just a small sampling of some of the projects I have made.

As you can see, there are tabs across the top to navigate to the patterns, yarns, forums, and groups pages, among others. The links on the left-hand side correspond to my profile. People can see what projects I've made, projects in my queue (projects I plan on knitting but haven't started yet), projects, yarns, or patterns I have saved in my favorites, and patterns I have in my library. You can also hook up your blog to your Ravelry profile, so other Ravelers can see my blog posts, too!

The numbers underneath each project correspond to how many people have commented on my project, or have added my project to their favorites list. Cadmus, my angry cat, is my most "favorited" project, with 38 favorites!

Most people use Ravelry to search for patterns:

I spend at least an hour a day deciding what to make next!

Ravelry's search function is excellent. You can narrow down your choices to only knitting patterns or only crochet patterns, or you can choose to show only free patterns. You can search by category, keyword, or tags that other people have used to categorize their projects and patterns. Ravelry is also a great way for designers to post their patterns for sale or for free use!

Another great feature on Ravelry is the forums:

I ask people for help on the forums when I get stuck!

Ravelers love to chat. And they love to help and encourage each other too! I've used the forums many times to ask for help if I get frustrated with a pattern or don't understand the instructions. I've also used the forums to participate in "swaps," where I'm assigned a "swap partner," and we send each other themed gifts (usually yarn is involved in some way). I've kept a pen pal in Montgomery, AL from a journaling themed swap!

Another way Ravelers chat is through groups. The forums pictured above are actually the forums of specific groups that I am in. I'm in the "Yarnaholics Anonymous" group, the "College Knitters" group, the "We Love Lucy" group (a fan group for a knitting blog), and the "Boston Terrier Owners and Lovers" group. In the Boston Terriers group, for example, people like to post pictures of their dogs wearing handmade sweaters!

This is Jenny's dog, Franklin!

Ravelry provides crafters around the world with a great way to communicate and organize their crafting supplies. I even persuaded my mom to sign up! I love sharing my finished projects with fellow Ravelers, and I especially love that I can ask for help when I get stuck. I usually receive a response within an hour, since so many people use Ravelry -- 1,186,900 people, to be exact! That's a lot of crafters!

At the time of writing this post, 3,957 users were online:

There are even Ravelers in Pakistan, Romania, and Hungary!

Most of the users live in the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom. But Ravelry connects users all across the world. Ravelry also won a .NET Magazine Award for the Best Online Community, beating out both Facebook and Twitter for first place! This just goes to show that social media can help create specialized communities for any interest, not just general friend-adding ones.