what are platforms you sciency people use to communicate?

i ask because Bonfire is a free libre open source project proposing a federated social media approach^qand it seems cool... but i can't join the pilot program since i'm not in a school or such organization.

Idk what's already in use though so this is a joint shoutout and a question. Like, what way do you use to chat about nerdy stuff rn? Does this Bonfire.social project fill a niche you're missing alot in?

[1] https://openscience.network/pilots/