In this day in age there are so many online communities you can be apart of.

Remember MySpace?

MySpace is still around, but as soon as Facebook was present everything transformed and a movement was made.  I’m going to talk about how critical it is to be apart of particular online communities.  The five communities of: Facebook, Digg, Twitter, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon are ones I find the greatest potential in for us to focus on.

These online communities each offer their own unique taste and hidden purpose.  Find out which ones you need to join as soon as possible.

Facebook has notably been the dominate online community for college students, because its origins were that it was intended for college students to network with one another.

We began to use it, this started a trend, it became popular, and many times we don’t even know why we are so attracted to checking it every or every other day. Attraction was created with purpose developing over the time we used it.

Now, there are many more online communities that are either older or newer than Facebook.  But, these communities are not as popular as Facebook. These overlooked and under-utilized sites are:    …but they hold importance that we can all take away from.

Digg

Do you dig it?

This is what the founder was thinking when he created this community.  Digg is a community focused around you and many others submitted a link you have found and allowing others to “digg it” or not.  The theory is that the “top news” for the day or week will be the one with the most “diggs”.

How can we utilize Digg?

Ever since I have started using Digg I have learned so many new things that I would not normally find in the newspaper, on TV, or even what some of my friends share on Facebook.  We can utilize Digg to find something of interest to us or inspire us to dig deeper into what subject is being talked about.

Since it is another online communities, you have your own profile where it shows what links or stories you have commented on and what you have “digged” and allows you to meet and connect with people.

Want to be influenced or influence others? Digg has the ingredients for it.

Be my friend and see what I “Digg” here

Twitter

Twitter is an opportunity for us to tweet about anything on our mind to a potential huge audience.

Yes, you can say, “I just had a fantastic peanut and butter jelly sandwich!” But, will this tweet mean anything?  Twitter is full of many people that probably share the same goals or interests as you so why not connect with them and network.  Networking is key and Twitter makes this process and way of life easier.

All you have to do is believe that it will be beneficial for you and later once you have networked with a couple of people you will be amazed. Without Twitter I would have not met so many people that I currently know and network with for LifeNotion.

Follow me on Twitter and I can further guide you here

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is probably one of the most under-utilized online community by everyone.

But, think of LinkedIn as an online community like Facebook but strictly for professional and business purposes.

While in college we are paying attention to our academics, social life, job, and exploring opportunities. But, we are forgetting about the connection with our possible future. We want to connect with people in our same field of interest or study and it is easy to this by connecting with them on LinkedIn.

Take time to look into LinkedIn and you should see the benefits come rolling in when you are active on the community.

Network and see what I have done here on LinkedIn

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is very similar to Digg in the sense that you are able to discover new and interesting links, pictures, or videos.

What is different and very unique is that the StumbleUpon community is created by what you like (or thumb up) and takes your interests into consideration.  Many of you might remember StumbleUpon with their toolbar that you can just click “stumble” and find a very random site that strangely interests you.

Use this online community for inspiration and promoting your thoughts or ideas when people find out who all has stumbled it.  It’s a place where you can let your interests run freely and see what the web matches them up with.

See my interests and what I have stumbled here

The LifeNotion: Whatever online community strongly interests you, make sure you are making a positive and active impact there and seek to do the same on other communities.

Let’s Have a Discussion

What online community are you on the most?  If you are not part of the other online communities, why aren’t you?

If the only reason you are not on these communities because you are not the techy or geek person, think again.  These communities are for all and today, tomorrow, and further down the road these communities are going to more and more crucial for you to be apart of.

If you are on these communities, what feedback or advice would you give to any thinking about being apart of a certain one?

by Derek Jensen

Derek is a 21-year-old college student that strives for inspiring others through his online presence. He is striving to inspire so many others and giving them the ability to inspire others as well. You will also find him talking about his passion with advertising and many other ideas and doing design work and consulting. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

Derek has published 37 inspirational posts for us.