Short answer: for a hobby you do in person, find the local club first and then join whichever chat it already uses; for a hobby that lives online, a large Discord server can be the community itself. Of 59 hobby club websites we checked on 17 October 2026, 38 linked to Facebook and 7 to Discord.
In the clubs we looked at closely, the website says when and where people meet, and Facebook, Discord or an email list carries the news in between. The rest of this page compares the three options and shows the check behind the numbers.
Discord, Facebook Groups and a local club compared
| Discord | Facebook Groups | A local club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you find one | An invite link from a club's website or a member. Discord's public discovery only lists Community servers with at least 1,000 members that are at least 8 weeks old | Search inside Facebook, or a link from the club's website. Anyone on Facebook can join a public group without approval; a hidden private group is visible only to members and invited people | The club's own website, a national body's club finder, or a catalog such as BelongHub |
| What it costs you | Free; Nitro is an optional paid subscription | A Facebook account; the Help Centre lists no joining fee | Anything from free to a yearly subscription. London Sacred Harp suggests a £4 to £6 donation per singing; Seattle Go Center makes your first ten visits free |
| Best for | Daily chat, voice calls, online play and quick questions between meetings | Announcements, photos and checking whether this week's session is on | Learning in person, shared equipment and a regular night where people expect you |
| Weak at | Finding a small local club you have not heard of yet | Finding a hidden group, and reaching people who do not use Facebook | Instant answers between meetings; club websites also go out of date |
| On 59 hobby club websites | 7 linked a Discord server | 38 linked Facebook; 11 of those a Facebook group | 13 linked none of the platforms we counted |
What we found on 59 hobby club websites
On 17 October 2026 we took every group in the BelongHub catalog filed under a hobby or enthusiast group type, from beekeeping and amateur radio to go, mahjong, model rocketry and bell ringing, leaving out tech meetups. That gave 67 groups across 36 types. We set aside five whose catalog link is a government, charity, national association or directory page rather than the club's own site, and three we could not read: one behind a bot check, one that blocked our request and one whose domain no longer resolves. For the other 59 we read the catalogued page and the homepage and recorded each link to the platforms below.
| Linked from the club's website | Clubs, of 59 |
|---|---|
| Facebook, page or group | 38 |
| A Facebook group, specifically | 11 |
| 22 | |
| An email list | 10 |
| Meetup | 7 |
| Discord | 7 |
| Telegram | 2 |
| 0 | |
| None of the above | 13 |
Facebook was the most common side channel, but mostly as a page rather than a group: 27 of the 38 linked only to a Facebook page, and 11 to a Facebook group where members can post. Discord appeared on seven sites: three hackerspaces (London, Tokyo and Washington DC), a LAN party in Montreal, the Seattle Go Center, a mahjong club in New York and the Society for Creative Anachronism. Thirteen sites linked to none of these platforms; for those clubs, the website itself is the front door.
Three clubs, three ways they use the platforms
- Discord as the noticeboard. London Hackspace invites prospective members to open evenings most Wednesdays from 7pm and asks them to check its Discord or mailing list first, just in case. The chat confirms the date; the workshop is where you meet people.
- Facebook as the calendar. South London Warlords meets every Monday, normally from 7pm to 10pm, at St Barnabas Parish Hall in Dulwich Village and posts the dates of its monthly Big Game Saturday as Facebook events. Its website says newcomers can ask a committee member to help them find a game.
- Discord between big events. LAN ETS in Montreal describes itself as the biggest LAN party in Canada, with more than 1,000 gamers competing each year; its 2026 event ran from 29 to 31 May. Its website links a Discord server from the main menu, the channel that stays open between events.
When to start somewhere else
Start on Discord if your hobby is played or discussed online, or its members are spread across many countries. There may be no local club at all, and the biggest server is the community; look inside it for a channel where members near you arrange to meet. Start on Facebook if the group grew out of a neighbourhood or a school gate, because a group like that may have no website. In every other case, start with the club, and if there is none, our guide to starting a group covers the first meetings.
To find one, search the activity on BelongHub or browse maker, craft and hobby groups and games and creative collectives, open the club's own website, and use whichever link it gives you.
Common questions
It depends on how the group talks. Discord suits daily chat, voice and online play; Facebook suits announcements and photos for members who already use it. On 59 hobby club websites we checked on 17 October 2026, Facebook links were far more common than Discord links, 38 against 7, and 11 clubs linked a Facebook group.
Ask the local club or look on its website first. Discord's public discovery only lists Community servers with at least 1,000 members that are at least 8 weeks old, so small club servers are shared as invite links instead, as London Hackspace does on its website. Large online communities may also appear in Discord's discovery.
Search the hobby plus your town, check the national body's club finder, and look the hobby up in a catalog such as BelongHub, which lists groups by type and city. Then open the club's own website for meeting times and contact it the way it asks. Our entries point to sources but do not confirm a club is active.
Join the largest online community for the hobby and ask whether anyone near you meets in person; two or three people are enough to begin. Then fix a time and a public place and meet on a regular schedule. Our journal guide to starting a community group covers the first meetings.