Om Malik and Mike Arrington have often said how much the input from their readers made their sites take off. The NYTimes has only taken that lesson to heart slowly. But the way that they created an interactive photographic slideshow of the tragedy in Minnesota and how they opened it up to comments on the front page has to prove more than anything that they need to break open their site more quickly. They’re clearly clever in how they think they can do it. But slow. Still, it’s a pretty amazing example of the power of a brand to bring folks together.