Social Networking in the World of Fiber



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While this is sort of old news, I like to keep the Ravelympic debacle in mind while I engage in social networking. Like many of the people on Ravelry, I tend to take things near and dear to me perhaps a little too seriously. Last summer, the Olympics occurred, and the popular Ravelry.com website (which is a social networking site that caters to knitters, crocheters, spinners, and weavers) came under fire from USOC for some of the members hosting “games” to complete before the end of the Olympics. Many of the members on Ravelry fought back. While some used nasty comments, I found it humorous that others petitioned to bribe popular satirist Stephen Colbert with a lifetime of freesocks. USOC eventually issued a sort of apology, and the whole issue was largely forgotten.

It seems to me that these articles prove a few things about social networking.

§               Creative Outlet: From poetry to paintings, social networking allows people with common interests to come together and share ideas and finished projects. Communities thrive and people have a sense of belonging…online.



§               Simpler to Catch Copyright Infringement: USOC’s basis for sending a cease and desist letter to the ravelry members who were hosting the Ravelympics was that it was an infringement on the Olympic name.

§               Easy to Petition as a Group: The ravellers tried to petition Colbert, but the internet also has sites such as Change.org and We the People. This allows for an actual attempt at addressing the needs and wants of the common people.

Of course, I believe the Ravelympics incident got completely out of hand. In my opinion, USOC cracked down too hard (making afghans denigrates the nature of the Olympics? Please excuse me while I guffaw).  To be fair, many of the replies from the crafters were not particularly polite. It seems that social networking forces one to take a side and may even encourage one to say things that one would not have the courage to do in person.

 Social networking is a double-edged sword. It is great for building communities, informing people, staying in touch with loved ones who live across the nation. But it also sucks many into a void. Many people are so out of touch with real people, unable to maintain interpersonal skills because the majority of their social interaction is based online. There is no need for facial expressions online, no need for a practiced tone of voice, no need to be tactful or use appropriate language.

I attempt to avoid copyright infringement, mostly out of respect to artists, but also to keep myself out of hot water. I, of course, am a member at Ravelry.com, but did not participate in any part of the Ravelympics debacle. Social networking is an invaluable tool in gauging the mentality of the participants. I endeavor to come across as an intelligent, well-rounded, slightly interesting young lady. So, keeping this in mind, I go about my daily social networking.