In reply to:

Holy cow--these people know us!!

This was one of the many topics discussed at W'Apaloo last summer in Michigan. Someone had a book there in which the life of online communities was the central topic. But it must be a fairly hot topic with so many websites also addressing the various stages these communities go through.

And some communities are DOA. I posted on a nature board a few times, but, honestly, there were very rare posts there--weeks without a single post--and no conversation at all the way I've seen it develop here on AWAD, maestronet.com, the Brown Cafe, and Straight Dope.