By invitation only

I've had a dribbble account for some time and have found it to be quite an interesting site. You get to see other designers' snippets of works in progress and are able to give feedback. Likewise you can upload works in progress and get useful pointers and opinions from friends and colleagues. The site is currently in beta and you can only create an account if you are invited by an existing user.

The other day I managed to "score" some invites to send out to people. I was faced with a choice, sit on them until I notice someone asking for an invite or send out a tweet and give them to the first who replied so they can start using it too.

I didn't think too much about who I was giving them to, I based my choice on a first come first served basis, but within the @ replies there were some from colleagues asking me to ensure their work is up to standard before sending invites.

While I agree in principle that dribbble would soon be pretty rubbish if newcomers began to use it inappropriately but I couldn't help asking myself, who am I to judge whether someone is worthy an invite?

Perhaps I'm reading too much into it and I was only being encouraged to ensure those who get an invite will make it worthwhile and not waste the opportunity. I certainly hope this is the case as it didn't really feel in keeping with the openness and collaborative spirit of the web community that I know and love.