It ensures that all communication is essentially human-to-human. It’s like having a Zoom conversation with someone but in your own time, so there is no need for lengthy, scheduled meetings. This also means that you’re making yourself available to any time-zone 24 hours a day. Video adds another layer to the authenticity of your community. By utilizing video in your community you become more relatable and trustworthy and as a result your members will be more engaged. Whether you’re interested in professional or personal friendship, here are 6 tips that will help you expand your social circles…
You can try out several different groups that pique your interest, or even create events of your own if you’re looking for new friends in a super-specific niche. The happy medium between is great for those who’d like to socialize in person occasionally, but keep in touch with their group on a daily basis. Or how can we get involved with new social groups when our own life circumstances have changed? For example, if you’re a new parent but all of your friends are single and without kids, you might feel alienated from them and in need of peers whom you can relate to. If a community consistently leaves you feeling drained, frustrated, or unfulfilled, trust your instincts and consider moving on. Recognizing when it’s time to leave a community is just as important as finding the right one in the first place.
Led By People Who’ve Lived It
If you divide your time between several different interest groups, you may be delighted to discover that you’re seeing some of the same faces in these different places. Pretty much every neighborhood out there has a need for some kind of volunteer work. This may entail dropping off warm meals to homebound elders, walking dogs at a shelter, pitching in with a community garden project, or sorting items for a local library sale.
If you or someone you know is struggling, don’t hesitate to reach out—help is always within reach. Due to her extensive community experience, she could offer many insights, provide useful tips and present selected communities to me that she had visited herself. Cynthia was very passionate and committed to the topic, very attentive and tuned in to my perspective. If you’re based outside the US, the platforms above will sometimes work but often won’t have much local coverage. Jumpstart is an education-focused nonprofit that connects college students and community volunteers with children who need literacy support. Volunteers read to students, teach reading skills, and help spark a genuine interest in books.
That changed in the 90s and early 00s with the first widespread online communities, chatrooms and forums. Heartbeat gives you access to many of the tools you might want when building a community. Zapnito focuses on customer education and engagement, combining discussions, courses, and events into one branded space.
For the purpose of this blog, I’m going to focus on the community features but if you are looking to launch an online course, I would definitely check out these features. Facebook seems like the obvious place to launch your community, it’s frictionless and already a place your community members are likely to be. I think Facebook is a great place for your community to start, but not necessarily scale. Skool does not offer any video hosting at all, so you’ll need to use Youtube, Vimeo etc. I think this is a massive downfall for the platform and in my opinion, confirms the “yellow-pages” experience I felt as a first impression. My first impression of Skool was that I was instantly overwhelmed, it felt like a brightly-colored yellow pages.
United Way has been driving positive community change for more than 125 years. Their volunteer search tool lets you browse opportunities by keyword and location, then filter by skill, category, and activity type to find something that suits you. International Volunteer HQ connects people with opportunities abroad across 40 countries. Whether synchronous or asynchronous, video options add tons of value for your members.
When picking an online community platform, especially as a creator or digital entrepreneur, monetization is key. Platforms that don’t give you enough options are essentially locking off different revenue streams, and you want as many avenues as possible open to you. That means the community platform you choose has to support video if you want to keep people truly engaged.
These communities can revolve around various topics, such as hobbies, professions, or personal development. Mighty Networks have a real niche in supporting online courses – this is a great addition to a community platform. Disco is an AI-powered community platform built to help organizations, training businesses, and academies bring learning and community together in one seamless experience. It integrates courses, communities, and events — along with the tools, data, and automation you need to manage them all efficiently.
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- However, MeltingSpot is a great platform to fully customize your Spot, share content, and grow your community.
- It also offers multiple header and footer layouts, color schemes, typography options, drag and drop page builder, and RTL support.
- Since merging in early 2025, our combined organization is connecting more individuals with social-impact opportunities than ever before.
- Online communities bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds, and engaging with different perspectives can broaden your own knowledge and understanding.
My first impression of Circle was that it felt a bit complicated. I was immediately hit with a lot of information and a video telling me to get started in 25 minutes – um, no thank you! They also offer custom plans if you have specific requirements. Swarm allows you to create a “space”, which is basically your community dashboard with unique invite link. You can then add “hubs” which are like different channels or discussion topics within your Space.
My first impression of Zapnito was that it’s got a LOT of text-based content, it’s pretty much filled to the brim. Zapnito is very different to the other platforms reviewed in this article because conversations happen in the comment section of the blogs. When posting to your Slack community, you can upload files, record a video or audio clip.
To only be able to post a photo or a file to your community means that Uscreen, a platform of massive video users, have missed the mark completely for me. I have to note here that my first impression with Uscreen was that it was a tad pushy. To watch a recorded demo of the platform, I had to add in my contact details. In a world where competitors offer so much ungated content and make me feel respected and valued, I found this to be a bit of a sticky point. This means that you get better emojis, bigger uploads and HD video with screen share and live streaming.
If you only know one of the two brand names, you’ll get to the same place either way. Whop allows you to run any sort of community you want, no matter whether it’s free or premium, or what sort of niche you’re building around. Fitness, trading, cooking, business, SaaS, social media—every community can find a home easily on Whop. Circle gives you a clean, branded community with real-time chat, courses, events, and embeds so it feels native to your site. Browse interest-based communities and connect with people who share your passions.
Skool offers one plan for $99/mo, this comes with a 14 day trial. This would give you 1 group, unlimited courses and members and 2.9% transaction fee. I like the fact that with Circle you can respond to a video with a video. Unfortunately, they have to be uploaded and not Goldenagesouls dating app recorded spontaneously but at least the option is there. The best part of Swarm has to be the face-to-face asynchronous video features.
At first it seems really cheap, and it would be if you had two community members. But imagine your community is growing, and every time it grows it costs you another $7.25 per member. Firstly, that can really add up and secondly, it seems like a bit of a headache. You might need to justify whether it’s worth adding a community member and if they will bring sufficient value to justify the cost. You could charge for the membership but this is still something to think about.
I’m not really a fan of this because I don’t believe you should be taking up 30 minutes of my time if all I want to do is see the interface. Thinkific is a great platform as an add-on to your online course business but would be considered expensive when compared to other stand-alone tools in this list. When posting to my community I had the option of adding an image, video URL or file. Unfortunately I was unable to record a video directly on the platform. To get started with Bettermode, you have to select a “Space” template or create a Space from scratch. A space is a place designed for common use cases such as discussion forums, Q&A, events, knowledge base, ideation, roadmap communication, product updates, etc.
While Discord looks fun, I question whether this is the correct platform for a business community. I imagine it’s more a platform for gamers to chat while they play together. This type of user would probably be happy to spend money on avatars and emojis. I have to wonder what it is that truly makes it worthy of that golden price tag. After putting my detective hat on, I was able to find the sign up button and was pleasantly surprised. I liked the fact that they send you notifications and that the buttons on the toolbar are vast, including adding GIFs.
One of the best ways to get involved in a community (and thus help to expand or cultivate the one that’s right for you) is to be of service. Use it to connect with fellow runners, cross-trainers, pilates/yoga enthusiasts, weightlifters, etc. Then you’ll always have someone to spot you while you lift or encourage you to hold that pose for just a few seconds longer.
They integrate customer community content with a knowledge base. This means that users can contribute, help others and give feedback within the knowledgebase. Zapnito allows you to upload a video and post it to your community. But like many of the platforms reviewed in this article, this is prerecorded and not recorded in the actual platform itself. This feature however is only included with specific privileges.
If the members are supportive and the discussions are valuable, it’s likely the right community for you. As you engage with the community, be mindful of the group’s guidelines and norms. Follow the rules set by the moderators, and maintain a respectful and inclusive tone in your interactions. If you disagree with someone, focus on the ideas rather than attacking the individual. They can also be a valuable source of customer support and a way for brands to build loyalty and engagement with their audience.