• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, May 13, 2015

As everyone knows, the whole point of making cool stuff is to show it off to other people who are interested in the same kind of stuff to compare notes, get ideas, and of course, bask in their praise and admiration. The “maker” movement, a loosely defined enthusiast group covering a wide range of do-it-yourself gadgetry, robots, vehicles, toys, crafts, furniture, and idiosyncratic doohickeys, is now getting its own online forum devoted to the making and sharing of stuff, courtesy of Maker Media. It is called, appropriately enough, MakerSpace.

According to TechCrunch, which first reported the news, the online social network, still in beta, will be open to anyone who has participated in a Maker Faire, which includes more than 100 maker meetups around the world hosted by Maker Media, or one of its related events. During the beta phase users have to ask for an invitation, and can then invite a limited number of their friends; later this year it should be open to everyone.

Borrowing elements from Facebook and Tumblr, the network allows participants to create a profile page to showcase their projects, follow each other, and post updates on their projects that appear in a newsfeed. Although it’s not currently equipped with an e-commerce function for users to buy and sell their projects, Maker Media may decide to add that capability in the future. Maker Media will however be selling its own wares including Make: magazine, books, and other products.

In addition to its obvious geek-out potential -- if you don’t want your own personal surveillance drone, it’s just because you don’t know you need one yet -- MakerSpace is intriguing because it seems like it could turn into that tantalizing but so far elusive mythical entity: Pinterest for men.

Indeed, while there are certainly plenty of female makers out there, the maker community is 80% male, according to Maker Media, and it’s easy to imagine MakerSpace becoming what Pinterest has not -- a place for guys to share their creativity and get inspiration for projects. And by the way this is a pretty desirable demographic: per Maker Media, 97% have attended college, their median household income is $106,000, and their median age is 44. No word yet whether MakerSpace will also carry advertising.