darkemeralds. (Reply)

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I think people are there for almost as many reasons as they are on LJ or DW or Twitter. Folks show up to sell a product, to stalk a partner or former partner, or just to talk endlessly about their pet peeve/enthusiasm/fandom. There's as much that can be attributed to hormones and emotion on the forums as on LJ, but I think it's easier to either avoid, if that's what you want, or watch without engaging, because of the way Ravelry is put together, which is brilliant.

I think most members are there to organize their fiber stuff and talk about knitting or spinning or yarn or fleece, but it's possible to join a group for any reason under the sun, and if you check profiles, there are many, many members who have no stash, no projects, no queue.

I couldn't figure out why Ravelry, back before I joined, and then I was blown away by the tools. Now I'm blown away by the huge collection of knowledge in that one place. I would never have progressed so much in my knitting, nor would I have even thought about spinning (even though I'd wanted to learn) without Ravelry.

It still has much in the way of arguments, wank, name-calling, mods having to put folks in time-out, freezing threads, and flouncing, especially on certain forums.