Molly - Getting communities off the ground

In her latest IE update, Molly informs us about the MySpace community she has helped to set up for her Youth Venture Media project.

A while ago, I started a TC community in Orkut. It's still around, and once in a while someone new joins. But apart from listing members, I didn't see much more utility for the community. In my opinion, it lacks 'activities,' things for members to do that would give them a reason to go back to the community (I tried to start discussion threads on course reviews, etc, but with no success). I guess I am telling you all of this because I feel that relationship management systems (like MySpace, Orkut, Friendster etc.) are not very useful unless a) you have critical mass of users, and b) there is something for members to do besides looking at each others profiles. So my question is: how should Molly address these two challenges (which apply to all of us trying to facilitate online communities)?

Feel free to comment over at Molly's blog, or in your own blog.