Amongst many things, it is both a pleasure and a royal pain to serve as one of the moderators for
WebHostingTalk.com. I think this is one of the primary reasons I was invited to blog in the first place, in fact.
I believe in the power of a community to police the industry to which it is geared and as a driving force for ongoing development/innovation and professional networking. They are a reasonable way to supplement one's offline social network as well. The key is to find the balance between online pursuits and your offline reality such that they complement each other, as opposed to them competing for your attention.
My online communities of choice are Web Hosting Talk, IWDN, Digital Point, and occasionally I'll make my way over to Computer Newbies (Gerrit, the owner, and I are buddies) and Site Point.
That's about all I have time to handle at this point, and most of my time is devoted to WHT and IWDN. Why? For WHT, I think it's because I recognize and respect it as the the most influential Web hosting authority currently online - I'm not comparing it to others as being better or worse, just more influential. I happen to like most of the people who frequent it, and it feels good to take on a role of responsibility there. IWDN is my child, and I believe the other founders, Core Team members, general community participants and I have nurtured a well behaved, well mannered and intelligent community. But I'm a bit biased, I guess.
That's enough of me babbling. I'd rather open up a general discussion on the communities you, my readers, frequent. Where do you go to fulfill your online networking needs and to make new friends? Do you ever get to make "real life" friends out of online acquaintances? What do you value most in online communities? Let's keep responses positive. General, non-community-specific complaints are ok, but let's talk about the places that have made a positive impact on your professional and personal lives.
Post away!
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==========[ MORE ABOUT PAUL ]==========
PaulHirsch.com . International Web Developers Network . Web Hosting Talk . Equentity Host
Because of online communities I became friends with two people who ended up becoming my two business partners (One happens to be Paul)
Because of online communities, I own two businesses with many more in the pipeline
Because of online communities, I have spent five nights in Toronto with friends I have met online
Because of online communities, my list of good friends has tripled over the years
Because of online communities, when I come home from vacation I feel like I'm coming home to another family; my e-family.
Because of online communities, my mind set has completely changed for the better.
Because of online communities, I did a grand job of discussing my business on BBC Radio Leeds, and in a half page spread of my local business paper.
Because of online communities, my income has doubled.
Because of online communities, my knowledge within certain skillsets has increased four fold.
I could go on and on and on, but you get the idea. My life would be *so* far from what it is now if I wasn't to participate in online communities.
I never imagined that when I first posted at the old Web Design Group BBS at htmlhelp.com over six years ago that I would end up meeting my future business partner and I would move on to larger forums where I would end up flying for eight hours across the Atlantic to have a BBQ with some fellow forum members. I never imagined I would meet with other fellow forum members in the British Midlands for a camping weekend.
I can't stress enough how much I have gained from being an active member of these PHP driven worlds of beauty.
Personally, I visit IWDN, WebHostingTalk and SitePoint. I'll occasionally visit others, but those are the forums I frequent. Of course, I have bias towards IWDN as I co-founded it with Paul and my other business partner, Paul Riddick.
I can never forget the amount of knowledge I have gained from the forums or the contacts I have made and the clients I have gained.
It is only recently that I have started to frequent SitePoint. In fact, over the last two to three days, I have been posting between 20-30 quality posts per day. It's a fantastic forum, with plenty of opportunity for me to get that "feel good" feeling from helping a guy or girl out. I feel the need to comment on the amount of thank you comments I get too, whether they be in the thread, or privately. I've never known a forum where people seem so willing to go out of their way to thank you. It's not only me either... I read a thread yesterday where Dan Schulz received the SitePoint Member of the Month Award and in his response, he mentioned how his private message inbox is always full with people sending their thank you comments. Certainly to me, that means a lot.
Great topic Paul!
Jamie