One of the biggest challenges when trying to learn more about the data ecosystem is finding a good group of experts to surround yourself by. With local in-person meetups still being relatively slim right now, online communities are a great way to meet new people in the industry and bounce ideas off everyone.

We've put together a list of our favorite data communities to explore and join, listed in no specific order. We hope you'll see some of your favorites and find some new ones to get involved with!

1) Locally Optimistic

Locally Optimistic is a Slack community, catering to a wide array of data roles from Data Engineers to Analytics Engineers.  With over 4,600 members, the community maintains a strong focus on high quality conversations around best practices, team management, and technical troubleshooting.

Beyond the typical engaging conversation happening every day, Locally Optimistic has specific programs to help you meet others in the data community every 3 weeks to help expand your network. Vendor activity and conversations are heavily restricted, so you don't have to worry about being sold to in this safe space.

All-in-all, Locally Optimistic has remained one of the best data communities to participate in. To join the community, request an invite here.

2) MLOps

The MLOps community focuses 100% on the problems related to Data Science and Machine Learning Operations (MLOps). If you're looking for a place to hone your technical chops and figure out how the best organizations are using machine learning, look no further.

The Slack community has over 7,700 members with constant, engaging conversation. However, the MLOps community also has really engaging weekly newsletters and chats with leaders in the data space that you don't want to miss out on.

3) Datatalks.Club

If you're trying to wrap your head around what it means to work with data, the DataTalks community may be for you. The community is extremely beginner friendly, providing a multitude of resources to ask questions and up-skill yourself as you get into the data industry. One of our favorite ongoing initiatives in the Slack community is the #book-of-the-week channel, a weekly Q&A session with the authors of impactful books in the industry.

While the Slack community boasts lively conversation between over 11,300 members, DataTalks is more than just a Slack community. DataTalks holds an ongoing podcast, hosts online events, and is currently running a free 4-week Data Engineering bootcamp.

4) dbt Slack Community

While software continues to "eat the world", dbt continues to "eat the world of data". As one of the most popular open source tools right now, the online Slack community for dbt boasts one of the largest hubs of conversation for Analytics Engineering, with over 22,700 members in total!

While the conversation is typically related to dbt and tooling that connects to it, some of the best minds in data are actively sharing their thoughts here. It doesn't hurt that the community itself is one of the most welcoming, heartwarming groups out there.

5) Reddit

Most people know Reddit, sometimes lovingly referred to as the frontpage of the internet, as the hub for entertainment, jokes, and memes online. However, if you've used the site for a while now, you know that one's experience with the website can vary greatly based on the subreddits you subscribe to. A strong curation of community-focused subreddits can help turn Reddit from a productivity zapper into one of the best sources of conversation and news in the data space.

For simplicity, we put together a multi-reddit of the best data communities we've interacted with on Reddit. It contains subreddits like /r/bigdata, /r/dataengineering, /r/datascience, /r/ETL, and a few other obscure ones you may never have come across.

We recommend gauging the content for a week or two before deciding which subreddits you'd like to actively subscribe to.

6) Data Engineering Discord

If you're not a fan of engaging with communities via Slack, then you're in luck! One of the major communities on reddit, /r/dataengineering, has its own active discord community with over 5,000 members. With a primary focus, this is the spot to have more technical conversations specifically related to the field of Data Engineering.

7) Data Twitter

Well, it's not really a dedicated community per se, but you'd be remiss if you weren't following some of the brightest data minds on Twitter. Whether it's engaging in Benn Stancil's "On Fridays we Fight" posts or Emilie Schario's hot takes on managing a data team, you're bound to find some lively discussion or at least a few good memes for your next deck.

For a good list of people to start following to get more involved in the Data Twitter space, we recommend this one.

Know of any great data communities that we missed? Let us know by contacting us.

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