yeah, it’s a more insular community than i usually post in and everyone here has pretty wrinkly brains. sometimes i feel like i won’t have anything productive to add. but i just try and vibe and enjoy making little snipes and remarks. we don’t all need to be adding depth to the conversation i guess

FBI chip in ur brain

I used to be that way, especially when first emerging as a baby tankie. I felt like communists were some monolith cult (despite my agreeing with a lot of what they said, the propaganda still stuck for a while) and that if I said something wrong or asked a question that I’d be ostracized or something. This was not the case, and we are normal people xD please participate, we all love everyone here and a small community needs active participants !!

Me too, but I’m bad at English, which is why I’m so anxious to post.

I learned English by watching American cartoons and playing video games when I was little. I remember searching for video game guides on the internet, but I couldn’t find them in my language, so naturally, I started using English more and more, but I will never reach the fluency of a USian. Funny, that’s how I found Reddit, and luckily radicalized, lurking on Lemmygrad and Hexbear.

Imagine not being paralysed, first by Oh God Which Comm Do I Post To, and then anxiety about whether or not you’re posting cringe or something bad, and then just general nervous hesitation, every time you go to post. Followed up by hovering your mouse over the delete button for hours after a post or comment. And then being really encouraged to delete it when you receive no reply. Haha who…

Man, I’m doing the “irony to hide the suffering” thing. Yes, very relatable. But you SHOULD post, posting is good.

You’re always welcome to post and it’s nice to have newer people bring different views. And before you know yiu’ve got 4k+ comments i need to touch grass

Post it all! Small communities like this need everyone’s content! :D

Yeah same I just get anxious even though I guess logically I have no reason to. I think I’ve just been burned so many times in so many social medias that I just lurk all the time

Same, but on any forum. Trying to just force myself to reply to things once in a while like I’m doing right now

Tbh I became more than just a lurker because of lemmy, in part because I wanted certain communities to grow, but also because it’s nice to interact with actual people rather than bots or people acting like bots.

I just don’t really feel the need to post much of anything to be honest. More often than not if I have a question it has already been answered in the past. Lemmygrad is a lot more niche than other messaging boards but the community is also more tight and I find joining in on discussions to be a lot more enjoyable/fun than starting them personally.

It took me a lot of courage to post here. I made one bad post that I am still embarassed about and deleted once I noticed it received many downvotes immediately, meaning it was likely not just libs from other instances. Sometimes I overshare or get a bit “reckless” with my posts and comments, especially when I am sick from work and/or my deliriously overworked brain is loopy but still awake enough to post mindlessly here. My advice is if you want to post something without fear of backlash, try to get a sense of the “vibe” and culture of the community and post something in a similar vain. I can tell you lemmygrad is probably the best community I have been in online. Lemmy.ml is now worse than reddit in my opinion (at least, small community subreddits before they are flooded with libs and Nazis), but that’s probably due to all of the lemmy.worlders and other toxic, fascist/neolib echo chambers in most other instances downvoting and harassing posts that are remotely left and challenge their narrow worldviews. Heck, I have been downvoted from other instances making harmless Linux jokes. People here are kind and understanding. We’re comrades after all. Just make sure to do your research and avoid making posts that break rules or could be interpreted reactionary. I would start off making posts from articles or videos that other comrades here post from, but I would try to post something new. By rule of thumb, I usually search the thing I want to post first to avoid making a repost (especially if recent). I believe that is part of forum netiquette. Lemmy will sometimes tell you if you are creating a post that’s already made with the same url, I believe, which is nice.

I haven’t read theory yet, but I tend to get a good grasp on ideas expressed in lemmygrad, PSL, etc. Reading theory, especially with a reading group under a party to help explain things like the meaning behind Lenin’s writings (I recommend this class from Brian Becker (it’s very engaging, too): https://yewtu.be/playlist?list=PLlpc6eFEd8ovixEvkHxXsJLRxqTUcyw-v), would probably help me improve the quality and accuracy of my posts and comments. I try to be a sponge here, open-minded and willing to take criticism, especially since I’m the noob here. I am very busy and overworked, and I struggle with time management. It’s difficult for me to fit time for myself to read, especially with working at a thinly staffed corporation, long commute, many projects, many devices breaking down that I need to fix or replace, working with PSL, needing to support my mom, etc. I am going to start doing a class with PSL soon, though, so that should help me.