The Six Types of Online Communities (with Examples of Each) | Blog

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The blog post discusses six types of online communities, emphasizing that while communities can be categorized, they often overlap based on member needs. The types include brand communities, where members share emotional connections to a brand; learning communities, such as Codecademy, focused on skill development; and networking communities, which connect individuals for professional or support purposes, like Feverbee Experts and the UK Multiple Sclerosis Society’s forum. The post highlights how these communities form around shared interests, self-improvement, or problem-solving. A user, rmccown, shares their experience transitioning a niche hobby forum to Discourse, noting the successful adoption due to improved usability and reduced friction.

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An online community brings together people who wouldn’t normally connect with each other in the real world. Businesses, creators, and brands alike are all realizing the power of creating community in the digital landscape. While it’s tempting to think communities are alike, not all look the same. There are a few different types of online community to keep in mind when you’re looking to build one.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://blog.discourse.org/2021/12/types-of-online-communities
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My site is a traditional niche hobby forum, just ported over to Discourse from its previous incarnations (SocialEngine for 10 years, phpbb before that). It was a leap of faith that my users would like the change from a standard “Forum/topic” layout, but everyone has been on board. The ease of use has really made that have less friction than I was expecting.

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