6 Unique Web Communities That You Won’t Forget

You may be well familiar with biggies like Youtube, Digg, Wikipedia, and StumbleUpon. They are all big and 100% user-powered websites. However, what about the smaller ones, focused on a single aspect and still able to attract a huge user base. So here you go, six really cool and fast growing communy-powered websites that you should definitely see.

1. Instructables – Extremely useful, entertaining and rather addictive online community where people share what they do and how they do it. Here you can find hundreds of excellent home-made DIY (Do It Yourself) guides detailing how to turn some of the garage junk into cool stuf, like invisible book shelf, hairspray-powered potato cannon or even making a wallet (from an old keyboard). See pic below.

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Read more: Instructables – The Web’s Biggest Show & Tell.

2. Scribd – The best way to define Scribd would be to call it a Youtube for documents. It is an online document library where users can search, browse, rate, upload, and share all kind of documents: jokes, facts, stories, document templates, presentations, and even amazon bestsellers.

Scribd - Online Document Sharing Community

Read more: Scribd – Document Sharing Community

3. UrbanDictionary – UrbanDictionary is basically a community-powered dictionary for slangs and all kinds of sayings and jargons that you won’t find in traditional dictionaries. Basically anything people use in daily talk.

  • Dude: A word that americans use to address each other. Particularly stoners, surfers and skaters.
  • Geek: The people you pick on in high school and wind up working for as an adult.

Read more: UrbanDictionary – Define Your World.

4. eHow / wikiHow – HowTo manuals for the everyday life. Lots of useful stuff here, everything from computer fixes and tips to personal finance and health tips. You will also find some not so usual but still essential tips, like how to take a punch or ungoogle yourself. In case the stuff you’re looking for isn’t there and you’re too lazy to digg for it on the web than ask it on Yahoo Answers.:-)

5. Sidereel – The aim of Sidereel is to create an ultimate directory for Movies and TV shows. Here you can submit or edit episode reviews, follow-up on favorite TV shows release dates, get links to watch episodes online (both free and paid), get personalized ‘to watch’ recommendations and more.

Sidereel

6. 43things – Active web community where people can set, track, discuss and share their goals. It can be something as simple as ‘watch all Simpson episodes’ or more serious stuff like ‘pay off my credit card debts’ and ‘climb mount Everest’. It’s also a place to discover like-minded people and learn from the experience of others on how to achieve your goals.

Tagged:

Aibek Esengulov

The guy behind MakeUseOf.com. Follow him and MakeUseOf on Twitter @MakeUseOf. For more details check out MakeUseOf about page.

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  • http://www.pachecus.com Pachecus

    excellent.. thanks for share

  • http://www.wozspot.com/blog Woz

    Scribd and UrbanDictionary are very useful, I have been using them a long time ago. Let me check the other links to see what happens :)

  • nomeus
    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Nothing really, it’s dead. Good web community should have lots of traffic, Forbex has none.

      • nomeus

        what the hell is a forbex, you idiot. and are you saying flurbex doesnt have any traffic? how about you go play in traffic……tool

        • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

          “how about you go play in traffic”… WHAT?

  • http://www.yakso.net yakso

    Great list. Thanks

  • http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/ Speedmaster

    That was fun, thanks. ;-)

    also check out:
    timezone.com
    thepurists.com
    fountainpennetwork.com

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Well…. I don’t thing any of them can qualify for an active web community. Firstly they cover too narrow field, and secondly there is not enough traffic.

  • http://gyminee.com Vincent Hawkings

    I like Gyminee.

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      it’s not a community. ;-)

  • Draylon Murr

    err what about bragster.com ?

    jeez some list ¬_¬

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      looks good, but needs more users.

  • Bipedal

    Fails for lack of 4chan

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      4chan is the toilet of internet.

  • kwapor

    last.fm anyone?

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      yep, last.fm definitely qualifies

  • josh

    midomi.com where users record themselves singing

  • http://canvas2.com Jimmy

    Checkout canvas2.com a giant collaborative drawing – early beta but looks like it could be cool.

  • ben

    http://www.boardgamegeek.com – a community driven database covering data,pictures and reviews for every board game ever printed.

  • Tim

    @Bipedal

    No. Wins for lack of any chan. There’s too many of them around these days to be considered unique.

  • j.w.

    work.com is really useful community-powered resource for small business owners and other entrepreneur-types.

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      yep, looks good.

  • http://ajabgajab.blogspot.com nabin

    StumbleUpon?

  • Kelly

    you forgot SantaMatch. Not exactly a community but certainly one of the best things on the internet – a free dating site where Santa Claus plays a matchmaker. It works surprisingly well.

  • josh

    midomi.com I love this site you can record yourself singing songs and others can listen

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Thanks, I will check it out.

  • http://leenutter.com/ Lee
    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Good concept …. needs more users though.

  • Josh
    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      I think the above mentioned sidereel is way better.

  • John

    This is pretty great photography site…

    http://www.pixalo.com

  • http://www.subcorpus.net/blog/ subcorpus

    have not even heard of some …
    gonna check them out …
    good share … thanks …

  • http://www.dr-leech.com.ar/ Leandro

    Great, people love to submit ideas! :)

    There are some for pictures and photos:

    FFFFound.com
    vi.sualize.us

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      I like FFFFound, found lots of cool images there.

  • http://www.moneytrackin.com Victorin

    Check out http://www.moneytrackin.com an online community of people who share his tips and fauvorite places to save money

  • http://wordie.org John McGrath

    Urban Dictionary is fantastic, but it isn’t really a community. You can’t talk to other members, for instance.

    Wordie.org (full disclosure: I built it) lets you make word lists, list words, comment on all words and lists, and talk to other members. If it’s a word community you’re looking for, please come by.

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Hi John

      Wordie is great, but I restricted this post to ‘highly trafficked’ communities only. ;-)

  • http://wordie.org John McGrath

    Aha. I can respect that. Volume, volume, volume, a good dictate to live by. Wordie is definitely quality over quantity. At least that’s what I tell myself whenever I check Alexa :-)

  • http://www.fadern.se Jon

    good stuff

  • Tracy

    43Things is a neat website. I like I like.
    Another one I just discovered along the same lines is http://www.QuickieClick.com

    You can organize your favorite websites into your own launchpad.

  • SC

    urbandictionary is a very racist web site created by and for white, suburban “hipster” youth culture for white suburban youth culture.its the 21st century equilvalent of blackface. it has very little to do with urban/black culture and if it were an honest site it go by suburbandictionary.

  • http://www.reliablesource.org dennis

    This site is appropriate for this list (imo) – http://www.reliablesource.org
    Give your two cents on free software at Reliable Source – a community driven site where users can share and discover reliable open source alternatives to proprietary and commercial software.

  • http://freesite.iblogger.org Troy

    I happen to be a huge fan of all of these, thanks for getting the word out! My favorites would have to be Instructables and Sidereel, it’s good to unwind :) .

  • http://digitracker.blogspot.com srikanth

    Insctructables is fantastic