Reddit

Reddit is currently one of the biggest and most dynamic spaces for online discussion, as it combines a massive range of communities under its hood. The topics on Reddit cover even the most niche interests, professions, and fandoms, as well as front-page news and the most popular trends. Content on Reddit is user-generated and organized into posts, comments, and threads.

What brings most users to Reddit is the fact that it includes very diverse communities in a single online space. You can join various subreddits (forums), like r/technology, r/AskHistorians, r/DIY, r/futurology, r/relationships, r/MechanicalKeyboards, that can range from more general to extremely specific topics. For each of them, you get a set of rules and moderators that keep the subreddit clean of spam, etc. You can choose from all those various communities and curate a feed that's relevant to you and your interests.

As a community-driven platform, Reddit lets you upvote and downvote posts and comments, which will determine their popularity and reach. Unlike other media that use algorithms for that, this way, promoted posts reflect quality and how relevant an answer is to the topic. You can also tag content for easier navigation and mark your experience level so that you know if the person writing the post is a professional in the field. 

On Reddit, you can mark spoilers and memes or add tags about the content format, like video, image, audio, etc. On Reddit, you can share text posts, links, images, GIFs, embedded videos, polls, and live chats so that the content can take various formats. From time to time, Reddit also hosts celebrity AMAs (Ask Me Anything).

Moderation on Reddit is done through volunteers who watch over users and the rules specific to a given subreddit. Moderators can rely on automatic tools or step in personally when major issues or violations arise. You can also use Reddit anonymously, and the platform doesn't require any verification or providing your email address by default.

If you want to go deep into a comment someone else posted, you can use threads, often containing thousands of replies focusing on a specific part of the original post. This way, you can collapse or expand them to browse through various nested replies, where users often engage in mini-debates. You can save posts for later if you'd like to return to them and sort by relevance, popularity, or how controversial a post is. 

Reddit also offers a premium subscription plan that is totally optional. This plan removes ads, allows users to ask more questions through Reddit Answers, offers a premium selection of icons and avatars, and provides access to VIP hidden communities. Apart from that, Reddit remains a free service that you can use through the browser or dedicated mobile apps.

Yes, all core features of the service are completely free of charge, and you can browse through the posts even without a Reddit account. However, if you'd like to post, comment, save content, or subscribe to a subreddit, you'd have to set up a free account.

There's also an optional Reddit Premium subscription available on monthly and annual payments that brings an ad-free experience, a set of Reddit coins and tokens for Reddit Answers, and access to r/lounge, a premium private community space.

Discord is a communication platform that supports text, audio, and video chats and was initially focused on the gaming community. Currently, Discord topics cover a wide range of themes like education, hobbies, and professional servers. It's a more private solution than Reddit, where you need to join or be invited to specific communities to browse through them, even though some remain open to the public. You can use Discord for free on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and the web.

Patreon is a platform for creators where you can subscribe to content from a specific person and access exclusive posts, videos, live streams, and more. If you're a creator, you can set up a paywall and different tiers that require your followers to pay to access specific content. You can download Patreon for free on iOS and Android devices or use the service on the web, but there are optional payments if you decide to buy access to exclusive content.

Quora is a default place for question-and-answer discussions where you can find expert responses and long-form content. Once you ask a question, you'll get an answer from the community, which often includes people who are experts in a given field. You can get an optional Quora+ subscription to receive premium answers, but otherwise, the service is free on the website and mobile devices.

Substack is a newsletter platform for writers where they can publish content directly to their subscribers. Your readers can access your posts through their email as a newsletter or read the whole thing on the Substack app or website. You can set up both free and paid tiers, where certain posts are only available for users who pay for access to your content. It's not a community-based platform, as there's no way to post comments or create threads, but it's the perfect solution for long-form writers who want better access to their readers.