What online groups do you belong to?

[Bird By Bird]

Game Quitters is an amazing online group. Supportive, positive and nurturing. I'm thinking of being more social during the next year and I'm thinking about what communities to join.

Since the pandemic makes it hard to meet in person, I want to know what other online social groups GQ members belong to. Is it a niche group or general interests? Is the culture supportive? Edgy? Laissez-faire? Healthy? Paid or free? Is communication mostly typing or mostly zoom? Is it a social media group or do they use forums or discord?

I also attend weekly Toastmasters meetings on Zoom as a part of my Toastmasters Public Speaking Club. Members offer encouragement and supportive feedback. I pay $80 every six months. The culture is business casual and most members are middle-aged. Game Quitters and Toastmasters are the only online communities I belong to. What communities do you belong to?

Edited December 2, 2020 by Bird By Bird

[Le North Dreamer]

Hey Bird,

Although it is about a completely different subject (personal finance and FIRE movement), I belong and feel deeply attached to the Mister Money Mustache ("MMM") community (the forum). I read through most of the MMM blog posts a couple of years ago and jumped eagerly into the forum, where thousands of human beings from around the world (mostly US) exchange on the topic of personal finance, investing, financial independence and early retirement.

My exposure to the MMM blog and community has forever changed my outlook on personal finance and I'm am profoundly appreciative and grateful to have found them early in my life. I would never go back to my financial self of before MMM...I've never been less stressed by money than every single day of the last couple of years ;).

The community is now very diverse given the important exposure that the founder, Pete (MMM), was subject to in the last couple of years - there are high earners and high NW individals as well as low earners and in debt individuals, all looking towards the same goal: achieving financial indepence (and maybe retire early). To answer your questions, it is a forum (no video/sound interaction), culture is very supportive once you accept that you may get facepunches for certain bad financial habits (for your own good), you can basically get info on all financial aspects of your life and how to improve them, it is a healthy community, completely free.

As the GQ community is, I believe, quite young in terms of average age, I'd be very happy if only one of us ends up benefiting from this shared experience and take on the path towards FI (or FIRE). It is a sometimes difficult but liberating experience, just like quitting games is.

Cheers!

[Bird By Bird]

On 12/3/2020 at 3:39 PM, Le North Dreamer said:

Mister Money Mustache ("MMM") community

Oh yeah I forgot about MMM. I love his blog. It might be good for me to join up with the forums. The rest of the FIRE movement, I'm not so sure about. It seems a tad grifter-ish to me. I like a few other finance bloggers too, I have them bookmarked somewhere, don't really remember their names. I think I may go back to reading them again. Thanks for reminding me.