When it comes to hobbies and interests, you’ll find online forums and communities for almost everything. Whether you’re passionate about birds, baking or business you’ll find tons of communities to get involved in all over the world. But what are the most welcoming, fun and informative communities to enjoy online?
Mumsnet
For parents, Mumsnet is undoubtedly the ultimate. It’s universally popular and is the largest community of parents on the planet, with millions of mums signed up to offer advice and help to other parents. It’s an incredibly caring community that largely offers little judgement and almost always someone who has been in a similar position or circumstance to yourself.
The topics do go beyond parenting, with the community has moved into other areas and in some cases just allowing members to catch up and touch base with one another. The community has created many friendships that will go on to last a lifetime and for any parent, it’s a great site to dip in and out of and become a part of.
Recipe Sites
With many of us having more time to enjoy cooking these days, the number of people taking on new recipes and being a little more extravagant with their cooking has increased significantly. That’s led to a surge in people enjoying cooking communities, where people not only offer advice and hacks on cooking but also post their favourite recipes too. It’s a great place for like-minded people to share their recipes and dishes, with sites such as Cooking Bites and Recipe Land particularly popular with keen chefs. It’s the best way to enjoy tried and tested recipes, while you’ll often find reviews of famous cooks’ recipes too, so you know the ones to try and ones that are not worth your time too.
Online Bingo
When it comes to gaming there are lots of communities to get involved in, with the likes of Fortnite, CS: GO and FIFA all having thriving communities. However, there are no gaming communities friendlier than online bingo. Brands like Moon Bingo have thousands of players in their chat rooms each day, and what you’ll find is a really encouraging space where people not only enjoy the game of bingo but get to know one another and also enjoy in-chat bingo games. You’ll find no animosity or sore losing, but one where players are congratulated with plenty of love to go round. They’re also great for new players wanting to enjoy bingo, with the community always on hand to help and answer any questions newbies may have about the game.
Sports Forums
With fans unable to really visit sports grounds at the moment, we’re seeing the best of the sporting communities as fans come together online to discuss sport, keep each other company, and in some cases even raise money for their beloved clubs. You’ll find forums and social media channels and hashtags for most sports and many teams too, so if you’re looking to discuss your passion, it’ll only take a Google search to uncover thousands of other fanatics enjoying all the same hot topics you want to talk about. They’re almost always welcoming and always keen to bring new, like-minded people in to discuss all things related to your sport or club.
Word Games
Similarly to bingo, word games have also developed a thriving community with players using these apps to pit their wits against other players from around the world. There are a number of games that are similar to Scrabble, including a Scrabble app itself, while Words With Friend 2 is also a huge draw for players, allowing you to go head-to-head with friends or strangers.
The great aspect of the game though is the inbuilt chat function and you’ll generally find people to be like-minded and very friendly, often complimenting each other on impressive word scores and generally just shooting the breeze about the day and world around us.
Music Forums
With so much downtime it’s the perfect opportunity to revisit old bands or delve into something completely new. Of course, radio shows and the likes of Spotify are a good chance to pick up something new, while music forums are bustling at the minute too.
Forums such as null, Vinyl Collective and the many Reddit threads are great for finding new tunes, while there will also be genre-specific forums just a Google search away. Why they are particularly enjoyable is that they are full of people enthusiastically offering suggestions, and welcoming in new fans with open arms. Music has always been an industry that thrives through word of mouth and in 2024 word certainly travels fast thanks to forums and social media.
What’s more, you’ll find artist-specific Facebook groups if you wish to chat and engage with a like-minded community, which can often be great for finding rare clips, interviews and generally picking up even more insight into your favourite bands and artists.
Podcast Facebook Groups
Which does lead us on to podcast Facebook groups. The podcast boom has been huge, with listens in the millions daily. You’ll find podcasts of all shapes and sizes available through the likes of Apple Podcasts and Spotify, many of which have special Facebook groups for fans to engage with one another.
Whether you’re a fan of sport, music, crime, food, history or any other subject, you’ll find dozens of great podcasts, many made by celebrities and world-renowned experts. Podcasts such as the Socially Distant Sports Bar and Quickly Kevin Will He Score? have earned cult followings, and many of those fans are engaging with each other, creating a vibrant atmosphere in which everyone shares the same interest. They often include fun and games, and in many cases the podcasters themselves will get involved, giving you direct access to your favourite stars.
If you’re enjoying a podcast right now, why not make a few friends along the way. A Facebook search of the show will usually find a number of different groups which you can enjoy right now.
