Social Networking for Crafters

Two of the largest social networking sites for crafters are Indie Public and Ning. The two are similar but different. In both you can just lose your self for a while.

I signed onto Indie Public months ago. I was a bit lost and overwhelmed at first, but spent a little time and got the feel for it. I find it to be a great place to join great groups and meet new people involved with different crafts. I found Ning through Indie and was lost once agian. I am fairly new there, but am begining to really enjoy it.

Both are set up, pretty much, the same. You can customize your own site page with templates, your company/blog information, photos of your work, a blog if you like, join and participate in groups and forums, meet very supportive people and have a blast.

On Ning, you have the opportunity to set up your own network. That's right, you name it what you want, add the features that you want others to enjoy and get people to join you. One thing you will get caught up in on Ning is that every time you join a group (network) you will get another new page to set up. This is good because you can customize the information you want members to see for each network you join. There are many different networks to join too. This may not be a good thing for someone who likes many different things, because setting up different pages for yourself can be time consuming. Since it's all set up the same, however, it is easy to do. For letting people know where to find you, you'll notice that the site addressese will change for each of these. I would advise writing them down so you can keep track.

If you are looking to meet other crafters, find support, get opinions from others in your area or learn some new things, I would strongly advise you join up. It is free. And who couldn't use a pat on the back every now and then?

Do you know of any other good networking craft sites? Please share.