Hi I have a similar issue, I'm autistic and can tie myself in knots trying to work out the not-wrong way to interact, to the point where I just give up. So I don't really contribute much at all, however I'm trying to step out of my comfort zone on here and else where. I can also end up editing and re-editing my text so it may come across a bit formal/weird?

The reason why I'm responding to you is that your post resonates with me on a personal level, and I think what you comment is valuable and interesting and useful (not just to me, other quietly, internet lurkers may been here too)

Things are a bit new here for most of us, and I think that's a plus, there doesn't seem to be the pressure to post something 'hilarious'. A lot of posts don't have the enormous, and intimidating comments numbers to get lost in, so it's possible to have a little chat and be on your way

:)

Hi! In the same situation.

What helps me is taking baby steps (i share as much as im comfortable and nothing more) and very low expecation, oh and is a huge benefit that the standards in Lemmy don't really exist so that's nice. I also sort by New, which helps me find new post with little to no comments where you can easily interact.

The scariness hasn't gone away for me but I think that's good , getting to comfy on the internet can be a bit dangerous and i mean we are all strangers here so you know , i jusr act accordingly to that.

Right now is encouraged to post , comment and participate as much as you can. A community and network is nothing without engagement from the participants , so i just feel like i am doing my part the best i can even if it isn't the best , at least is something.

As opposed to "read it on reddit" here is more "lemmy post" kind of attitude at the moment. Good luck :)

I am using this sudden influx of newness to post more as well. Frankly I have nothing but positive interactions so far. I get way more interaction in the fediverse than I ever did on any other platform. All that to say, that I just started responding to random people's posts. Everyone has been friendly.

I feel the exact same way. So far I’ve had success responding to posts that are just asking questions that are relevant to me like this one. I’m hoping eventually that’ll lead to me making my own posts, but baby steps.

I mostly lurked on Reddit as well. In the large communities, you could predict what the responses would be already and anything that wasn't tailored to what the hive wanted to hear would be buried. And why bother posting your journeyman-level knowledge of a topic when some expert in the field (real or imagined) was surely right behind you?

My advice - find a topic you care about, a hobby you have, and talk about it. Maybe you won't be the best comment on the thread. Who cares? This probably won't be the best reply you get either. If you helped one person out, even a little, wasn't it worth your time?

Same here! I feel like the problem with Reddit's established community is that most of them have found an "identity" and developed a "lingo" / "jargon" of their own. Like if you're not "innit" then it becomes harder to minge then there's this influx of downvotes making it very hard to wanting to take part without... lurking a shit ton. (like Stack Overflow mentality lol) Feels like threading thin ice sometimes. With a novel community like this one, where rules are yet to be set in stone, it feels... freer?

I mean, it still is very fun to lurk and digesting new content, but starting up posts on your own can also be a lot of fun. There's also a lot of bot/stalker behavior in Reddit which might minimize the incentive to be creative. With the smaller fediverse communities (especially closed/invite-only sign ups) it might be easier? I'm just speculating though...

Anyway, I'm happy that you are feeling more at ease being by posting more, keep it up!