Okay, so the two things might seem a bit incongruous at first, but when you think about it there are online social networks for pretty much anything, so it's no surprise that there are a lot of craftsters participating xd In fact, by being part of Gaia and of this guild, we are part of an online social network.

Anyway, the point of this thread is to talk about other online social networks where people who are into crafts can get together and promote their work, sell their work, or just plain old chat about things. These can be something as involved as say Etsy.com, as general as Flickr or as simple as a forum. The rise of social networking has helped a lot of people, particularly in niches such as crafting, find each other, and can be really useful for the above mentioned reasons.

So here's a few social networking website that I've found which are crafting related, or have craft related groups:

Flickr
For those who haven't tried out Flickr, it's basically a photo sharing website which has become extremely popular due to the way it handles and encourages groups, communities and general social aspects. If you check out the websites of a lot of high profile crafters you'll probably notice that they have a link to their Flickr profile - because of course, when you make things you need to take photos of them, and the social and sharing aspects of Flickr are really good for promoting the stuff that you do. Also it's free (for a basic account), which is nice! To make the best use of Flickr it's a good idea to join some crafting groups and post photos of your work to the group photo pool to get them a bit more attention. I've also found that people are quite open, so if you're willing to put in the time to watch other people and comment on their work, they'll be quite likely to do the same in return.

Etsy
I haven't actually used Etsy at all, but have checked it out a bit. At the moment it's probably the best site for selling your handmade goods - think Ebay, but only for handmade items/crafting materials, with a far better interface and far less fees. They charge a flat rate to list an item you're selling (can't remember what it is, something like 20 cents), and you have your own little shop front.

DeviantArt
I think most of us have encountered deviantArt - it's basically a place to post visual artwork, which includes crafts. It's difficult to get much attention on deviantArt but I think there's been a rising interest in crafting, so it's possible to get a nice fanbase through it - you just need to be willing to work on it. I have noticed that crafting people in da are pretty friendly and if comment on their work and devwatch them there's a pretty high chance they'll do the same. Remember that to get any level of attention you're going to have to spend the time networking and commenting on other people's work too thigh sweatdrop

Anything else? I know there are a few forums out there somewhere... I'd be interested if anyone wants to link to them!