Evolution of online communities 💬

Modern technology has provided us with many new and wonderful ways to communicate. The Internet has made it possible for us to communicate with our family and friends instantaneously, which has been especially necessary during social distancing. Technology has also allowed connection with people we never would have known, sometimes on the other side of the world, due to shared hobbies and interests. From bulletin boards (BBS) and chat services like ICQ & MSN to Friendster, Myspace, Livejournal, and the rise of Facebook, Instagram, and now Tik Tok and Clubhouse, online technology has significantly advanced our way of communicating.

Source: Flickr

Social forums and message boards
Meme stocks drew renewed interest to social forums like Reddit. Although forums and message boards have been around the longest of the Internet technologies, they were recently less popular and focused on niches but have re-emerged as strong sticky mediums for communication. Users are able to join and build deep communities, and these communities' power, as shown in the recent movement of stock prices, is immense. Other notable forums include Quora, Twitch, Github, Gaia Interactive, and Imgur.

Community chat platforms
Although very similar to forums, community chat platforms are another way users are congregating around niche interests to communicate, often in real-time. Slack and Discord are all successful community platforms that have expanded beyond their initial intended use of workplace communication platforms and gamer communication platforms to incorporate new niche community communication. 

 Audio communication 
We have talked about the returning trend of audio communication before and how audio-only apps like Clubhouse have become an easier way to reach busy households amidst the growing usage of smart speakers and the need to multi-task. Although casual in nature, the ability to hear nuances and emotion in comparison to text is something that makes audio hard to rule out as a great medium for communication.