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.