Finding poker friends
Socially, online poker player is quite isolated. Running bad in the shark-infested ocean is a pretty bad perspective. The consolation is that there are many players who do not mind meeting new people and discussing poker. Another reason - in poker your information search & analysis skill is rather important because reading poker forums can eventually turn into an increased winrate. On forums you can discuss the current metagame of your discipline or difficult opponents. So from the beginning it would be wise to think about finding a friendly forum where you can share your problems and hands with other players, as well as get some helpful advice.
Pokerstrategy
Pokerstrategy is a poker portal, well-known mostly because of their non-deposit bonuses in a large number of poker rooms. There are many sections on the majority of poker disciplines, large and friendly community you will enjoy. There is also a wide range of strategy articles from beginning to advanced level.
CardsChat
CardsChat is another popular poker forum offering basic poker articles for beginners, and many sections for various poker disciplines. There are sub forums only for hands played discussions as well. Not bad place to start for those who prefer general poker talks too.
TwoPlusTwo
TwoPlusTwo is most popular poker community. In this forum you will find a lot of useful strategy threads as well as funny or offtopic forums. Many poker celebrities are posting here. You can even find nosebleed stakes regulars discussing some tricky played hands. There's even a sub-forums where players are gathering into groups for strategy discussion and game analysis that may also interest you. You may read other players blogs or start a blog by yourself.
Lets summarize. It is important to find a poker forum with friendly community and useful content. Remember, the forum where players just complains about bad beats, is unlikely will be useful for you. Find a forum with a lot of sections on poker strategy or with tips on how to beat a particular limit.