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Minute(s)

December 28, 2021

6 Computer Science Online Communities you need to follow

Learning

  1. Code Like A Girl
  2. EarlyWork
  3. The F Factor: Tech Women+
  4. Men Championing Change
  5. StackOverflow
  6. Programming Humour - Reddit

In this digital age, you may have come across the term “online communities” or “online forums” floating around amongst your peers or within your professional network. An online community, or commonly referred to as an internet community or web community, is a network of members who interact, share ideas and dialogue with one another primarily via the internet.

In most cases, if not all industries, there are online communities associated with the field. Not to mention, for the Computer Science landscape, there are a plethora of online communities and groups for any enthusiasts to join.

Research has shown that users mostly feel like they have meaningful conversations participating in online communities: according to a survey every 1/3 of respondents say they have constructive communication, every 1/4 mention they feel respected by others and can be themselves, every 1/5 say they feel appreciated, that their voice is heard and have a sense of belonging. (Source: GlobalWebIndex, USA 2021)

In another survey conducted by GlobalWebIndex (2020), 66 per cent of survey respondents said the main reason they love online communities is because they provide the ability to connect with others with similar interests: the exchange of views and real opinions becomes especially relevant in the COVID era.

Curious to see what types of online communities in the realm of Computer Science are out there? Here are 6 online communities worth noting:

#1 Code Like A Girl

CS101-code-like-a-girl-blog

Code Like a Girl is a social enterprise providing girls and women with the confidence, tools, knowledge and support needed to enter and flourish in the world of coding. Their mission is to empower and enable women and girls to be equal creators in building the future. Check them out here: Access Here


#2 EarlyWork

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EarlyWork is home for young people challenging the careers of today and creating the careers of tomorrow in Australia and New Zealand’s next generation of founders and operators. With over a growing community of 1000+ members on Slack, they are dedicated to building relationships in the tech ecosystem; finding your tribe to start discussions in various areas of tech and sharing the best industry news and resources for their members. Find out more here: Access Here


#3 The F Factor: Tech Women+

CS101-The-F-FActor-Blog


The F Factor: Tech Women+ is a non-profit community that celebrates all women+ working in tech careers, across every race, ethnic group, country of origin, sexual orientation, visible and invisible ability. The group welcome transgender and non-binary.

The purpose of the F Factor is to be a holistic support network for the entire duration of their members' technology careers. They want to see more women making it into technology leadership and fewer women exiting the sector, mid-career.

The online community supports one another and promotes learning from each other and giving back to the community. If you’re into data science, coding, AI, ML, cybersecurity or tech leadership etc, if you value connection and support, The F Factor community may be a great place to join!

Explore more here: Access Here 

#4 Men Championing Change

CS101-men-championing-change-blog


Men Championing Change (MCC) is a non-for-profit community group, entirely run by volunteers. The focus of this Meetup group is on working together to achieve a significant and sustainable improvement in the unacceptably low levels of women in technology and leadership. Advancement rates are low, and the pace of change has been too slow.

MCC are following the non-profit institute, Male Champions of Change Ltd's strategy as an innovative intervention that can help in shifting entrenched gender inequalities.

Like Male Champions of Change, they want to be upfront and say that being a Male Champion of Change on gender equality requires genuine commitment – time, investment and innovation. MCC aims to share with you approaches and resources to help you get started, get momentum and accelerate your impact in your own working environments. Discover them here: Access Here


#5 Stack Overflow

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Founded in 2008, Stack Overflow’s public platform is used by nearly everyone who codes to learn, share their knowledge, collaborate, and build their careers. They are empowering the world to develop technology through collective knowledge. Their platform serves 100 million people every month, making it one of the 50 most popular websites in the world.

Fun facts:

  • 21+ million questions asked to date,
  • 13.6 seconds average time between new questions,
  • 50.6+ billion times a developer got help.

Have a tour here: Access Here 


#6 Programming Humour - Reddit 


CS101-Progamming-Humour-Blog


Created in Dec 2021, Programmer Humour via Reddit is a vibrant, exclusive community that exists for the “sole and beautiful reason of redirecting people to the community page”. With over 7.4K members worldwide, the Reddit community serves within “meme” culture where it is a real community for those within the Computer Science realm to assist and share information that may be of interest and value to others.

Get the latest humour: Access Here 


What next?

Interested in joining the CS101 community? Why not take the first step and download our CS101 Course Syllabus and take your career to the next level:


CS101-Course-Syllabus-Intro-Computational-Thinking