Getting into Digital Art (and also Media Sites)

Well recently I have enrolled into a few animation courses at school, and we are doing a bit of Digital (for the Animation part). However I want to get into doing Digital Art in general, I love Traditional, but even I know that the industry is making the jump to digital nowadays. So what I'm asking is What are the tools I'm gonna require to do Digital Art (I'm willing to spend some money, and need to keep the budget at a minimal, so now high tech pads at the moment). So what are some recommendations? (besides the obvious Laptop and Computer), programs and tools? Also some tips for Digital Art will be greatly Appreciated ^^ on a side note, I want to expand my media sites to show my art as well. So besides Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Deviantart, what are some sites I can use?

Tool of the trade; Drawing tablet. Most people usually go for a Wacom. I've used several brands, and I can definitely vouch for their quality; worth every penny. OR you could always go the mouse/trackpad route which imo takes much longer to hone and master. In terms of programs,depending on what kind of art you're planning to do there are so many programs available to artists. You have your classic adobe photoshop, Corel Painter, opencanvas, clip studio and painttool SAI are also all good options. There are also free programs such as gimp and firealpaca too. A quick google search will give you tons of suggestions tbh. Just explore your options because these are just the ones that I'm familiar with~ Uhmm tutorials, references and tips are bountiful on deviantart if you just search through the many resources. There are also many independent websites out there that provide tutorials too. I would suggest that you give books a chance too as well as pure observation and practice. Other than the sites you've already listed, I can only think of tumblr and pixiv.

Deets man, deets! What kind of digital are are you trying to make? Comics/manga, digital paintings, brochures, 3d versus 2d, animation? Inquiring minds want to know!