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Well, I don't even know if meta is the right place to ask this, but I thought it suited more than the standard Math Stack Exchange.

As a mathematics undergrad student, I usually face some questions more related to the "math lifestyle", such as: "how is the daily routine of a researcher mathematician?", "should I be studying more of this or that?", "is my way of solving problems a good practice?". I know that these questions are not appropriate for MSE, since a good deal of opinion is involved, but I believe getting in these "soft" discussions and talking to more experienced mathematicians can sometimes do just as much for your professional development than looking for answers to specific math problems.

So I am here for recommendations of other sites, forums or groups where I can discuss these themes more freely. Thanks in advance.

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    $\begingroup$ The danger is always: stuff written on the internet could have been written by your kid brother/sister, and what do they know about research maths, or about good study practice?! For such questions you are better finding a mentor who you can trust, and instead asking them. (Although there are old questions on MathOverflow and also here which address these topics. Possibly Academia.SE will address some too.) $\endgroup$
    – user1729
    Sep 22, 2020 at 19:59
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    $\begingroup$ There are several math researchers who frequent the chat rooms of Math S.E. Perhaps you could ask them? The chat feature would also suit your "soft" discussion. $\endgroup$
    – user400188
    Sep 23, 2020 at 1:26
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    $\begingroup$ The focus there is a bit different, but still it might be useful to mention here this older post: What is a good forum for math discussion? $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Sep 23, 2020 at 4:35
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    $\begingroup$ I've found several Discord mathematics communities to be really helpful in getting insights from seniors; the better-established servers have a lot of grads/PhDs/Post-Docs, so they may suit you. Also, in built LaTeX support through the TeXit bot allows asking well-formatted questions as well(in case you prefer a more informal setting compared to MSE/MO). $\endgroup$
    – Manan
    Sep 24, 2020 at 18:09
  • $\begingroup$ what are some of the Discord communities that you’ve found? (If it is okay for you to share) I am in my last year of undergrad and such a community is of great interest to me. Thank you. @Manan $\endgroup$
    – Benjamin Wang
    Sep 26, 2020 at 23:06
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    $\begingroup$ @Manan :P posted an answer mentioning such. $\endgroup$
    – Simply Beautiful Art
    Sep 27, 2020 at 3:24
  • $\begingroup$ @BenjaminWang Simply Beautiful Art mentioned one such server in their answer below. Here's one more I can recommend: discord.com/invite/BacbVax $\endgroup$
    – Manan
    Sep 27, 2020 at 10:32
  • $\begingroup$ @user400188 I didn't know Math SE had chat rooms! That seems great, thank you! $\endgroup$
    – ConcreteSwanDive
    Sep 29, 2020 at 20:59
  • $\begingroup$ This is the best question on the whole website. $\endgroup$
    – goblin GONE
    Oct 1, 2020 at 8:39
  • $\begingroup$ @Manan I will be honest, that server is much more suited to asking for help on homework questions and the like, less so what the OP wants. $\endgroup$
    – Simply Beautiful Art
    Oct 3, 2020 at 4:38
  • $\begingroup$ @SimplyBeautifulArt As someone not in uni yet, I've found the advice/insights offered by seniors on that server to be illuminating; but I will admit that the server you've linked is better suited to serious discussions. $\endgroup$
    – Manan
    Oct 3, 2020 at 5:34

3 Answers 3

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This might be a bit ‘too soft’ depending on what you are looking for, but there is always activity on r/math (Reddit’s math forum.)

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    $\begingroup$ From my experience r/math is a good fit for OP. Many discussions I've seen there are in the vein what OP is looking for and r/math is actively moderated. In addition, there's a voting system on reddit aswell which, of course not perfectly, tends to detect badly written/simply wrong comments and posts. $\endgroup$
    – mrtaurho
    Sep 27, 2020 at 9:11
  • $\begingroup$ For some reason, all the discussions I've seen in r/math are more related to high school math or for people aspiring to become math undergrads (I've been looking for stuff more on the "academic level"). But might give it a try, thanks! $\endgroup$
    – ConcreteSwanDive
    Sep 29, 2020 at 21:03
  • $\begingroup$ @ConcreteSwanDive Certainly reddit is an open community (just like here), so on a surface level the most immediately noticeable discussions will be the ones which are accessible to more people (just like the HNQ here). $\endgroup$
    – Simply Beautiful Art
    Oct 2, 2020 at 15:40
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There are many discord servers pertaining to math, though I disclaim that the medium is not at all serious nor professional. Despite this, I've seen many serious discussions concerning math or related topics. Certainly you should take these discussions with a grain of salt, but with questions as vague as the examples given I see no harm in trying discord out.

As far as a server I can recommend you check out, this one will likely help you out. In fact many of the users there have come from here, if that assures you some level of familiarity. One can also be assured that most such servers have something going for them in the way of LaTeX as this site does.

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  • $\begingroup$ how long will that invite last? $\endgroup$
    – Stupid Questions Inc
    Sep 27, 2020 at 18:48
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    $\begingroup$ It's a permanent link unless something happens to the server. $\endgroup$
    – Simply Beautiful Art
    Sep 28, 2020 at 1:17
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it’s far from perfect, but there are a lot of mathematicians on twitter, and the things you mention in your question are discussed pretty often, amongst other “human” aspects of doing maths. it’s generally a really welcoming community, so maybe check it out 🙂

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    $\begingroup$ I don't now twitter at all. Will the OP know how to find the, um, tweets that are helpful? I am guessing that a common process is to "follow" someone. Perhaps these features are something a 20-year old would automatically know. $\endgroup$
    – Will Jagy
    Sep 23, 2020 at 12:44
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    $\begingroup$ Twitter is biased -- not just politically and professionally towards certain classes of users, but more importantly (and caused by its very design) towards one-liners, self-presentation and cheap attention hacking as opposed to thoughtful and free discussion. It's as good a window into human aspects of anyone as a TV advertisement clip. The very fact that it comes up as an answer to a question about forum recommendations speaks to the damage it has wrought on the Internet. $\endgroup$
    – darij grinberg
    Sep 23, 2020 at 21:14
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    $\begingroup$ "The very fact that it comes up as an answer to a question about forum recommendations speaks to the damage it has wrought on the Internet." @darij that would make a good tweet! $\endgroup$
    – Gerry Myerson
    Sep 23, 2020 at 22:48
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    $\begingroup$ @darijgrinberg a lot of people have equally bad things to say about stackexchange, so i guess it’s all a matter of point of view $\endgroup$
    – Tim
    Sep 24, 2020 at 6:31
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    $\begingroup$ @darijgrinberg Most of the negative behavior I've seen on Stack Exchange is via comments, which are basically tweet-length. $\endgroup$
    – Calvin McPhail-Snyder
    Sep 24, 2020 at 14:21
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    $\begingroup$ @CalvinMcPhail-Snyder: Yes, but math.stackexchange doesn't claim to be a place for discussions -- it actively claims to not be one. $\endgroup$
    – darij grinberg
    Sep 24, 2020 at 14:23
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    $\begingroup$ It seems much more readily verifiable that Twitter is a breeding ground for anger and contempt, than most charges you could level against SE. Both have some garbage in the leadership that has trickled down. Not saying that the mathematicians on twitter aren't helpful or welcoming... $\endgroup$
    – The Chaz 2.0
    Sep 25, 2020 at 11:47
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    $\begingroup$ As a general rule, I find the maths community on Twitter to be exceptionally welcoming and friendly, albeit rather noisy (few people only post about maths and nothing else, and that's obviously fine), whereas Stack Exchange is useful if you have a specific question, but frustratingly narrow in scope and deeply unfriendly if you step outside those unmarked boundaries. $\endgroup$
    – N. Virgo
    Sep 26, 2020 at 13:28
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    $\begingroup$ @darijgrinberg I'm of agreeance, especially concerning the point that twitter isn't really meant for discussions, which is what the OP is concerned with. $\endgroup$
    – Simply Beautiful Art
    Sep 27, 2020 at 3:29
  • $\begingroup$ @SimplyBeautifulArt has got a point. I don't really use twitter that much, but I'm always on Facebook (which I don't think is that different, in this context). I have a lot of mathematician friends on Facebook, follow some math pages, but don't really have the opening to discuss those deep questions about math, simply because this social media is not really meant for that. I believe I will try Twitter, but I'm not really hopeful about it... (thank you all, anyways!) $\endgroup$
    – ConcreteSwanDive
    Sep 29, 2020 at 21:14

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