Working in such a specialized field as quality assurance can be challenging to manage without communities. Whether you need an unbiased review of testing software, insights on implementing automated testing, or guidance on setting up a new testing tool, a strong test automation community can significantly enhance your QA team's efficiency, and it doesn't require any budget! But how and where can you find such communities? We have compiled a list of the top 35 communities based on our own experience working with them.
LinkedIn has numerous QA communities, each with its specializations and approaches. You simply need to select your area of interest and apply for membership.
Additionally, it's important to consider that some of these communities may lack strong moderation. Consequently, any member can post, which has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it's convenient as you can promptly share your thoughts, questions, or experiences. On the other hand, there's a risk of redundancy, with many posts duplicating each other, especially event announcements, which can quickly overshadow valuable content. Furthermore, such communities may also be vulnerable to spam posts.
Below, you'll find our list of influential LinkedIn communities within the QA segment:
#1. Software testing & Automation. 346,000 members. You can ask for what you need, but note that all posts undergo moderation. This ensures that all community participants are protected from spam and other low-value content.
#2. Information Technology: Developer, Engineer, Analyst, Technician, Scientist | Blockchain | Metaverse. 502,566 members. With numerous participants and numerous announcements, coupled with relatively light moderation, you can freely ask any questions of interest. Someone among more than 500K members of communities will likely provide you with an answer.
#3. Test Automation. 375,961 members. Anyone can create posts.
#4. Software Testing and Quality Assurance group. 174,107 members. Anyone can create posts.
#5. QA & Testing Group. 153,953 members. No strict moderation, anyone can create posts.
#6. Software Testing and QA. 118,695 members. Moderators review the content you wish to post, ensuring that all valuable information for community members is published.
#7. Quality Assurance - QA Professional, Testing, Test Automation, SDET. 315,000 members. No strict moderation, anyone can create posts.
#8. Zebrunner. 2,700 members. It serves as the official community for the Zebrunner testing platform and execution environment on LinkedIn. Within our community, you can discover valuable blog posts, receive product updates, access free webinars featuring QA professionals, and explore reviews of Zebrunner product functionality.
Slack communities offer a more streamlined user experience compared to communities on LinkedIn. While on LinkedIn, you may encounter numerous spam posts before discovering something valuable; on Slack, you can simply join the community and gain immediate access to crucial information and the collective experience of other community members. Typically, each community on Slack offers a minimum of five channels for various types of discussions. You can either ask questions or simply follow the information posted by other community members.
#9. Test Automation University. 15,800 members. You can read and share your ideas in channels such as Announcements, Events, and General.
#10. Selenium. 12,400 members. Channels like Article-links, Selenium, and Selenium docs offer information about the Selenium project that may interest all community members. Meanwhile, channels such as Selenium-tlc, Botcave, and Selenium-manager gather more specialized information.
#11. TechWell Hub. 9,400 members. In addition to the general and area-specific channels, there are also channels like Jobs and Agile.
#12. Continuous Testing community. 2,700 members. There are numerous channels covering various aspects of testers' work, including Continuousintegration, Jenkins, and Selenium.
#13. RobotFramework. 14,500 members. 9 channels, including Forum, Browser, Robot Framework, and Selenium library.
Gitter is a networking platform for developers and other users of GitHub and GitLab repositories. It is a convenient chat room system where you can discuss technical issues with professionals.
#14. Cypress-io. 13,000 members. You can engage in discussions and find resources related to Cypress.
#15. WebdriverIO. 8,600 members. Here, you can ask your questions and exchange information related to the WebdriverIO framework.
#16. Android testing. 345 members. Although smaller in size, this community offers valuable discussions about Android testing.
#17. Javascript. 3,800 members.
#18. Appium. 4,500 members.
Discord was a significant trend nearly two years ago. Startups, coders, developers, investors, online gamers, entire IT company staff, and project teams saw in this unique platform the best solution for professional communication.
Compared to Slack and Gitter, Discord communities offer more features for informal communication. When you join a new community, you can receive an invitation to share information about yourself with other community members. Moreover, there are numerous channel types within almost every community. These channels include general threads like announcements, career discussions, and professional chats covering topics such as automation, API, chatbot prompts, as well as informal channels for gaming discussions, and more.
#19. The Test Tribe community. 6,200 members. There are numerous channels and threads covering various aspects of the QA field, including automation, API, testing, and performance.
#20. Playwright. 5,000 members. There may not be as many channels as in the previous Discord community; however, you can still ask your questions about Playwright and access important articles, videos, and events shared by other community participants.
#21. QA Central. There are numerous channels, including an info section where you can find the rules of this community, roles, general information, FAQs, and announcements.
We primarily use Telegram for informal communication. However, there are also professional channels and chats for QA professionals.
#22. Selenium. 10 715 members. You can discuss everything about the Selenium project.
#23. Automation discussions. 715 members. This is a chat with professionals in the field of test automation.
Indeed, Facebook appears to be the easiest method for accessing testers' communities, and this holds particularly true. Yes, there are a multitude of QA communities available. The majority of them operate as closed groups, where moderators exercise control over group activities. However, it is quite common for these communities to receive infrequent updates. Conversely, communities that permit any member to post often give the impression of being populated by scammers. These communities frequently suffer from spam-related issues and suspicious posts promising ways to earn $2000 per day without any effort (lol).
#24. Quality Assurance. 67,600 members. The community is moderated, so there aren't many spam posts.
#25. QA TestAutomation forum. 28,900 members. The community is moderated, and within it, you can seek assistance, discuss QA tools, delve into test automation, and explore various testing techniques.
#26. Software Testing in USA. 52,800 members.
#27. Testing software automation (Selenium, Appium, Python, Java). 20,500 members.
Reddit primarily hosts informal testers' communities where you can freely ask questions, express your opinions, or engage in discussions.
#28. r/softwaretesting. 26,000 members. Direct or indirect promotion of any tools, services, or training is strictly prohibited, ensuring that discussions here are focused solely on professional questions and topics.
#29. r/QualityAssurance. 30,000 members. Moderators have pinned answers to questions about how to begin a career in QA and other inquiries crucial for those who are just starting in the field of testing. Additionally, a guide on getting started with QA automation has also been pinned for easy access. You can ask about what interests you, but read the pinned threads first to avoid starting discussions on existing topics.
#30. r/softwaredevelopment. 76,000 members.
#31. r/QualityEngineering. 1,000 members.
#32. r/SoftwareEngineering. 72,400 members.
#33. R/testautomation. 1,300 members.
#34. Testing Tech News (TTN). TTN is a social network designed for software testers. The community offers a user-friendly interface, eliminating the need for you to invest time in setting up your profile or familiarizing yourself with the platform's operations. TTN provides various features, including dedicated threads for beginners, channels for online courses, a video lab, podcasts, and discussions about testing tools, among other resources.
#35. Ministry of testing. This is one of the most well-known tester communities, complete with its own platform, forum, and chat rooms. Additionally, the Ministry of Testing maintains its communities on social networks like LinkedIn.
One of MoT's standout features is its commitment to security. All discussions and threads are either moderated or monitored by moderators, ensuring the absence of scam posts, links, or any other suspicious content. Furthermore, should you need to engage with experts, you can initiate your own discussions.
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