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Online communities (also know as online networks) are probably one of the most popular website types among non technical people. Practically anybody who has ever connected to the net has used a forum, a mailing list or their big brother, a social networking platform. Much like offline communities, online communities can help both your personal and professional growth. The only difference is that they're usually more massive and global, with your network spanning across continents instead of only your physical area of influence.

The Internet is big and if you look for it you can find online networks for the most obscure and niche subjects filled with people that share at some of your interests, with whom you can share ideas and experiences, get support and feedback on your projects and even get information about that book you have been looking for for years and seems to be out of print everywhere but in a small third world country.

Some of the benefits of online communities are obvious, the human being is a gregarious specie and a sense of belonging to a group is very important for us. Since Internet makes communication much easier (and most of the systems to create online communities are very user friendly and don't need specialist knowledge anymore) is also easy to meet new friends through your own network of friends, independently of their geographical location.

Platforms such as Facebook allow users to share their pictures and what is important for them on their lives with their extended network of friends, and also know what is happening on those friends lives. Networks of artists such as DeviantArt serve as a platform for publishing your content, receive feedback from fellow artists or even random visitors, and discover new artwork by people you probably would never have a chance to meet in person. There's also endless forums on an all-compassing variety of subjects from professional to hobbyist where you can share information, tricks and debate ideas with like minded people.

Professionally platforms such as LinkedIn allows you to network professionally with people from your professional area, meet prospective leads or business associates and get answers to almost any of your questions from people with a proven experience in their subject. It's also a very useful tool for job searching and recruitment, and even for promoting your own business or company to an interested audience.

The common point about all those different examples of networking sites is that they feed and thrive on the need of human beings to communicate and share. And isn't that what communities are for?

Learn more about this author, Irene Lizarraga.
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