In the monthly server updates for lemmy.zip/piefed.zip there’s a mantra that’s repeated every month. I think it’s wonderful and can be applied to the Fediverse as a whole.

If you’re new here - WELCOME! I hope you’re enjoying your time here :)

Just one small teeny-tiny request. The greatest gift you can give the Fediverse (Original: Lemmy.zip and Piefed.zip) isn’t money, praise, or interpretive dance (although we would absolutely accept the last one). Its participation.

Upvote the things you like. Start a discussion, debate, or ponder about whether water is wet or merely makes things wet. Make new communities if you don’t see one that fits your oddly specific niche obsession.
(We don’t judge. Well, we try not to judge anyway.)

The fediverse naturally ebbs and flows, tides of people come and go. But if you’ve found yourself oddly attached to this strange little corner of the internet? Wonderful. Help it breathe. Help it grow. Help it be just a tiny bit weirder in the best possible way.

So if you’ve gone to the effort of clicking Sign Up and proving you’re not a robot (unless you are, in which case hello and welcome to our new AI overlords), then please, I beg of you:

Stick around. Add your voice. It really does make this place better.

Original post by @[email protected]

  • 𒉀TheGuyTM3𒉁@lemmy.mlEnglish
    17·
    2 days ago

    A’ight you won, gotta say something for today. But i hardly understand how people do manage to be social enough to post almost every day, like, they manage to make everything interesting.

    It usually takes me 30-40 minutes to find the strengh to post something. How others will react to it, or is it even meaningful to post it, I find myself facing theses questions as much irl as online.

    Anyways, it truly is a very nice place here, I agree with you, thanks to thoses amazing posters who never get out of inspiration. Thank you all.

    • Sarah@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      2 days ago

      “It usually takes me 30-40 minutes to find the strengh to post something. How others will react to it, or is it even meaningful to post it, I find myself facing theses questions as much irl as online.”

      Just remember everybody is anonymous and the votes don’t really matter!

      Also I can guarantee you that no one else will scrutinize what you say as much as you do. Mostly they will not even remember!

  • percent@infosec.pubEnglish
    5·
    2 days ago

    I just realized something: When I search for something in Lemmy and get zero results, I sometimes go to Reddit and search there.

    It would probably be better to make a new post in Lemmy about the thing I’m searching for. It would add content to Lemmy, and the content would be newer and fresher than the Reddit results that are sometimes 10+ years old.

  • VinnyDaCat@lemmy.worldEnglish
    38·
    2 days ago

    I upvote a lot, but I don’t always comment as much as I should. I often find that I may or may not have anything particularly new to add to the comments.

    • FinjaminPoach@lemmy.worldEnglish
      131·
      2 days ago

      Don’t worry about it, in places like Instagram and YouTube - even twitter and R*ddit - people are leaving comments like “bro said [thing previous commenter said]”

      And that’s fine! Let’s be social and authentic and just happy that there aren’t bots pretending to be people here

    • mirshafie@europe.pubEnglish
      5·
      2 days ago

      Yeah honestly there’s no point adding meaningless chatter either. I like the comment sections here because it feels like people have let their words settle in their minds before they started mashing the keyboard.

    • Sizing2673@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      I think I’m still a little concerned about account security especially in these scary US fascist times. Trying to take the safest course of action but I am still burnt over by reddit and its hard to wipe your accounts there too now…

    • Zink@programming.devEnglish
      2·
      2 days ago

      I appreciate your concern for the quality of your contributions, and I think this place has a higher proportion of that type of user than just about any other platform.

      This place is small and it’s generally friendly and inclusive. Most comments won’t get any replies, but the ones that do will generally be constructive. The users here are into the whole idea of the social contract and that we can have something nice if we are just excellent to one another.

      I repeatedly say “generally” because this is an open platform and assholes are allowed to join. The assholes can even have their own instance dedicated to asshole topics! But fortunately the instances and communities are generally moderated by actual decent humans who are much like the users!

      So let that knowledge help you comment more, not less! Even if you get no comments and like 5 upvotes, it actually feels like something of value even if it’s just a nod from a few decent people.

      Edit: part of the conclusion was supposed to be that you can consider comments more like a discussion with people and not some strict message board.

  • Boiglenoight@lemmy.worldEnglish
    15·
    2 days ago

    I enjoy Lemmy because I tend to get a response. Despite the higher pop at Reddit, I often go ignored. It’s not unusual to have a back and forth chat with another commenter in a given thread here.

    • transMexicanCRTcowfart@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      2 days ago

      I find it hard to keep a conversation going, maybe lack of skill on my part but usually idk what to reply and hit a dead end. So most of the time I just upvote in appreciation for taking the time to respond.

      • zqps@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        8·
        2 days ago

        If you don’t know what to reply, then don’t. Seek out communities, posts, and comments about stuff you enjoy talking about. Especially when it’s a positive light.

      • YeahToast@aussie.zoneEnglish
        6·
        2 days ago

        I mean, perhaps if you’re lost for content you could just give the back story to your username?

        • transMexicanCRTcowfart@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          2 days ago

          Ooh that’s an easy one, it’s from this comment, credits to OP.

          I’ve seen variations of it around here in other comments too, but this was the first one I saw and it cracked me up, so I took it. I’m some bigot’s worst nightmare

            • transMexicanCRTcowfart@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              1 day ago

              I had added it as pfp but then read someone saying smth about how “bad” handmade art is better, I liked the idea to try and make a silly drawing myself, then never got around to it.

      • Boiglenoight@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Conversations either continue or they don’t. You shouldn’t be hard on yourself. If someone says something that makes you want to say or ask something else, great. If not, that’s fine too.

        • transMexicanCRTcowfart@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          2 days ago

          Thank you, it’s easy to see it when it happens to me but if I’m the one leaving things hanging I feel like either a missed opportunity or that I’m somewhat being rude (I’m not, and most likely the other party didn’t think nothing of it. I’m working on my sometimes distorted inner narrative).

  • Lan@lemmy.zipEnglish
    15·
    2 days ago

    Aw what a nice sentiment 🥰 it has inspired my first reply here

  • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.worldEnglish
    15·
    3 days ago

    Sometimes I debate on making a comment, and sometimes I simply don’t have the energy to complete one. But sometimes, I think, “every comment grows Lemmy a little bit more” and decide, fuck it, I’ll say something. People might like it, people might not like it, but you never know what can grow from such a little spark.

    I appreciate Lemmy in this regard. We live in a world with many voices trying to drown out each other for a bit of public attention. It’s enough to make some people think their own thoughts aren’t worthy and to stay silent, discounting their potential contributions. Having a platform that’s low-stakes, where people aren’t chasing internet fame, gives many of us an opportunity to express ourselves for the sake of expressing ourselves. Having this outlet is vital for many of us. I’m glad to be a part of this community, and it is truly a community. I have no idea if anyone recognizes me, but I definitely recognize other frequent commenters. It’s almost like we’re neighbors, not in physical proximity, but with a shared gathering space to meet and share our thoughts.

    And I love that.

  • Skullgrid@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1584·
    4 days ago

    There’s like 5 people that are firehoses of content that are keeping lemmy alive.

    • eta@feddit.orgEnglish
      68·
      4 days ago

      Yeah they’re doing a huge service to the Fediverse. I’ve had a few times where I saw posts from the same people across totally different communities to the point where I’m wondering if they’re actually interested in all these subjects or just posting for the sake of it.

      • Scrollone@feddit.itEnglish
        39·
        4 days ago

        After a while, it doesn’t even matter. It creates a sense of community, making this place nice for new people to join. So it’s good.

        • Dozzi92@lemmy.worldEnglish
          28·
          4 days ago

          I see a lot of the same people, recognize the names. I argue with some, know I’ll agree with others. I like it. It harkens back to old forum days for me. Reddit may as well be anonymous1 talking to anonymous2, maybe outside of some more niche subs, but here, I can comment on a post about corn and recognize a few of the names who are also commenting.

          • greybeard@feddit.onlineEnglish
            8·
            3 days ago

            I certainly can become a problem. Reaching back to Digg, MrBabyMan had way too much power and influence, even though he basically just spammed news articles 24/7. Thankfully, the threadiverse doesn’t seem to be designed to promote people over content.

        • pseudo@jlai.luEnglish
          2·
          2 days ago

          Yes, it is nice to see that if you post or comment on a community at least a personn will answer you. This is enough to convince the least lurkers of us, the first step for an active community.

      • anon6789@lemmy.worldEnglish
        15·
        3 days ago

        I don’t know how those people do it. Putting out stuff every day for one community keeps me as busy as I’d want to be.

          • anon6789@lemmy.worldEnglish
            4·
            2 days ago

            I get most of my stuff from Facebook. Since most of you refuse to go there, it really keeps my content fresh 😁

            More seriously, since most of my stuff is from non-profits and photographers, it’s still the number one place these people share their stuff since it’s free, easy, and has a built in wide audience.

            Other than that, I look for owls in the Google news page once a week, I look up old research papers or read books, I volunteered at a rehab clinic to learn more and get photos and stories, and I go to events and talk with people that work with owls.

            I think the most important thing is that I’m genuinely interested in the subject, so even if social media vanished tomorrow, I would’ve stop doing anything I do to source content, I just wouldn’t be posting. I just post because I think you guys will like it and hopefully donate or volunteer yourselves.

      • lerba@piefed.socialEnglish
        3·
        3 days ago

        Interesting. I find flooding Lemmy with 0-comment posts rather a disservice to it instead. I come here for the discussion, not for random links to articles.

        • eta@feddit.orgEnglish
          2·
          2 days ago

          Of course that’s not what the end state should be but while Lemmy is still growing it’s better to have something to work off than to wait around for good discussions to just appear.

    • hansolo@lemmy.todayEnglish
      8·
      3 days ago

      I genuinely worry about Picard Maneuver and Lady Butterfly. What of one of them got hit by a car!?

      • Skullgrid@lemmy.worldEnglish
        14·
        3 days ago

        Picard Maneuver went and came back. I appreciate their work though, they’re one of the pillars.

        I worry about Stamets.

    • Gorgritch_Umie_Killa@aussie.zoneEnglish
      4·
      3 days ago

      I’m not a big fan of those absolute firehoses though. It would be impossible to read as much as they post, and therefore they can’t have much invested or interest in the subjects which is bad for discussion and reminds me of the reasons for disliking AI slop.