Funny how I just started writing this article and at the same time, OCD made their new announcement to diversify their votes into other communities. Nonetheless, that makes this post even more important than before since it will from now on not only be beneficial to post on OCD anymore but also in other, smaller communities. Huge Probs to 
What's my purpose for making this list?
My main purpose is to show people there's already plenty of communities out there than just "OCD" or "GEMS", which I believe to some degree defeats the purpose of communities: To gather people who share same interests in one way or another.
Communities whose only purpose is to just give out large curations and not really take into consideration any kind of specification of the post except for being quote on quote "Quality content". It doesn't matter if you write about Hive development, traveling, or art. It's all there clumped together and it makes a space that is hard to meet like-minded people or consume specific content. This is where communities are supposed to help.
Don't get me wrong, I am also using the OCD community. But I try my hardest to stay away from it and instead focus on other alternative communities that have an actual theme or purpose.
The communities below are the once I would recommend people checking out.
My 5 favorite Hive communities in no particular order:
Click on the representative titles to get directed into the communities if any of them are interesting for you.
1. AskHive:
This one is a bit different from the others there will be on my list. Instead of focusing on well-made posts, this one focuses on thought-provoking questions that promote engagement in the comment section. I really do think this is a fresh breath of air because it puts a much bigger focus on the comments rather than the author.2. HiveDevs:
*This community can be a bit long-haired and many of the posts can be in languages no mortal human being should be able to speak. But regardless of that, I find myself liking to scroll through here to see what is going on with different Hive-related projects. Sometimes there can be some seriously cool shit that I would never have known. It's kind of like a super-advanced newspaper for Hive.
3. Hive Statistics:
This one is kind of close to HiveDevs but more focused on the overall state of the blockchain. Here it is super easy to find juicy numbers if you intend to make a post about something that would require that such as daily statistics that show the amount of Hive Power(HP) that are distributed among users, inactive accounts, or visitors of the website. These or just examples of the kind of numbers you will find in this community. It's just a good place to find valuable resources.
4. StemSocial:
There are some serious bright-minded people here on Hive and I have found most of them through the old Steem version. Now they obviously changed their name and community into "StemSocial". Same concept, different name, and just as cool. This community is all about Science, technology, Engineering and Mathematics(S.T.E.M.) I truly believe I have found some of the most well-made posts in this community.
5. Outdoors:
Yeah, maybe a bit shameless to put my own community on the list. But even if it wasn't made by me I would still choose it as a community I would like to see grow and be part of. It fits exactly into my hobby of enjoying and exploring the outdoors. Traveling is great, but I don't care much about cities, cheap flights, and dinner at a 5-star hotel. Instead, I love to read about people getting lost in the wild, or bunkering down inside a tent while waiting out a storm. I really hope to see this community thrive one day with people sharing their own stories of how they are enjoying the outdoors.
Are we really using communities to the fullest?
Communities are amazing and they have the potential to gather specific audiences and authors alike who can enjoy whatever their interests might be. This list here is specifically tailored to my specific interests which clearly are: Outdoors, Science, and Hive. When I actually took time to dive into these different communities I started finding so much joy being both a consumer and an author than I have had before. It feels much more purposeful.
There are already so many other communities out there and it is our collective responsibility to diversify into these communities to find people with our common interests. Don't just stick with posting on those big curation communities that are basically just a glorified old version of what we had before communities were a thing. But try to sometimes write a post in a community you think would benefit from your content, or even better, go and discover some other authors doing also that. It will all add up in the end and make a much more healthy platform for us all.
What's your favorite community?
So this is my list and after this whole motivational speech of how important it is to use the communities to its fullest, I would love to also hear what your favorite communities are here on Hive? Any on the list you feel like I missed? I know some of mine are a bit too hive-related but in all honesty one of my main "hobbies" are in fact Hive, so there's that.
Leave your own community suggestions below!
HALLØJ!
My name is Mikkel Holm and I'm spending most of my time traveling around the world... mostly on my bicycle.
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