We’ve all become accustomed to Zoom these days. In fact, it’s hard to think of how we’d live without it. No matter what your hobbies and interests are, we’ve all had to transition online to make the most of them, with some online communities thriving more than others. As we move into 2021, these communities continue to play a huge part in our lives, and they’re changing industries, perceptions, and lifestyles that will undoubtedly continue when life returns to normal. But what are the communities that have thrived the most over the last 12 months?
Mumsnet
Many parents, and in particular single parents, have felt incredibly isolated over the past 12 months as they look to balance working life with parenting. It’s caused stress and anxiety to the max, with stories in the news almost daily surveying parents’ lives and stress levels. Many parents have taken solace in social media, while Mumsnet has been perhaps the healthiest forum in parents helping each other out during difficult times.
The Mumsnet community has long been large, and indeed very influential, but its stock has risen once again over the past 12 months with thousands of threads with hundreds of responses as parents look to help each other by offering their experience, insight, and even friendship. For new parents it’s been especially useful as they enter the unknown and that’s only going to continue throughout 2021 too. What’s more, these forums can be looked back on retrospectively too, so parents will forever feel the benefit of more people talking about parenting life and skills during a time when online offered the only real opportunity to do so.
Online Bingo
With limited forms of entertainment offline, online bingo has really thrived. In fact, all forms of online gaming has. It’s the community that online bingo provides that has separated it from the likes of casino games and arcade games, however. Many online bingo sites saw a rise in players of up to a third during April-June last year and that’s because when you’re playing games like bingo, you also enjoy the social element too through the chat features.
It’s a very different experience to guiding a console character through a level, with players able to communicate with one another, talk about their days and ultimately make friends. For people that live alone, that’s been a huge relief and one that has helped online bingo communities to really thrive over the last 12 months.
Football
Football is one of the most tribal sports on the planet, and a huge part of it is its community. With fans unable to chat on the terraces or in the pubs across Britain, however, discussion online has hit its peak. Talking football on social media has long been a thing, but in the past 12 months we’ve witnessed the very best of the football family. Marcus Rashford and his quest to ensure no children go hungry has been largely backed by football fans online, while there are many football clubs who have been struggling given help and support from the wider community. One such example is the virtual tickets sold by Marine, an initiative designed to help raise funds during a period when the club had no money coming in. Over 30,000 people bought a virtual ticket for their game against Tottenham, helping them to stabilise financially as well as spread cheer among fans.
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