I realized I interacted / posted / commented less and less on reddit these last couple of years. Couldn't even tell you why exactly. Now I've been here for a week and, I don't know, I just like interacting again... Hope it stays like this for a while :)
Reddit is too popular and has too much group think, too many of the same types of comments that will get a lot karma, and too many comments that will just be ignored.
NEW is a garbage dump or a pile of duplicates. So why comment on a new post? It will never go anywhere. HOT is already full of comments, so your comment will just be lost.
I’m constantly seeing posts about how much nicer kbin is, but I’ve also seen a “KYS” comment and personal insults towards people. I also recognize it’s possible that there are fewer nasty comments, that the ones I see are just outliers but I’m more likely to notice them here instead of just downvoting and forgetting because the posts about how nice kbin is are making the counterexamples stand out that much more.
I would typically only engage with new posts, but in two places. One was some smaller subs where there was going to be more opportunity for discussion between everyone, and two in the larger subs would be breaking issues where new was by default and it was more group observation of the events going on in real time.
The karma system also gamifies trying to find a variation on the same thing as always. You're not trying to be clever or unique, or bring new perspectives to the conversation, you're trying to be the first person to say the thing you think everyone else is going to think of
The exchanges I have had here are like rare good ones I have had on reddit. If it gets to popular that will likely change but hey lets enjoy it while we can.
This matches my experience too. I’ve only had one or two unpleasant exchanges from a hateful person here, and it was pretty forgettable. On Reddit it seems like almost every time.
It was insane how carefully I had to tread on reddit. On here, I can just be myself without worrying about getting spammed by assholes. Every experience on here has been really nice!
Reddit has been a toxic cesspool for a long time. I just realised how desensitized i have become to this sort of thing after mainly being active here. I really hope we can keep it that way.
Oh yeah. I’m loving it. I feel like my comments and posts get a lot more attention and the engagement is a lot better than Reddit. It definitely feels like a community is brewing but I’m loving the increased interaction.
I thought it would be a really hard shift since I used reddit so much. The more I go between them, the more I realize reddit is just another forum website - it's not even a really good one, either!
This change has been super helpful for me to learn not to get so attached to stuff. The people here are the same as the people there and the stuff I post can go anywhere I want it to, there's nothing extra special about reddit. It's super freeing!
You should try Beehaw, or any other instance that’s disabled downvotes. THAT’S awesome. If someone disagrees with your point, they actually begin a conversation, instead of just slapping a down arrow.
Can you clarify on karma not mattering here? I’ve heard that before, but I also see a total upvote count on my profile page. Does karma not impact the sorting of posts or what?
yeah, that's definitely a part. And it kind of feels good to try to help build something... though I'm far from the first bunch of people who started this
I agree! Oftentimes on Reddit I thought "I don't really have anything to add, and this post will be flooded with comments anyway, so mine will probably drown, so why bother?"
Here I think there's more of breathing room for everyone, which is nice
I'm trying to remember to do the same, I'm so used to saying nothing for fear of being the one post people pick to be the one they downvote to hell for no reason. It's like I want to interact now but as @magnetosphere put it I have PRSD - Post Reddit Stress Disorder
I kinda dislike it, honestly. I'm so used to constant withering hostility that the lack of slurs and snide insinuations about my parentage is genuinely kind of uncomfortable.
When I first arrived here, I felt there wasn't enough of a community to sustain my interest. But in just the past week or so, I think it's reached some sort of critical mass where this place now has a pull that keeps me coming back.
I thought I'd miss reddit more, but while I haven't cancelled anything over there, I just don't get on much anymore. I'd rather spend my energy building community here, and I don't care if there are fewer people to interact with. Even reading a single thoughtful comment is enough to make my day, and that's starting to happen regularly.
well said. it also just makes me feel better in general contributing to kbin, because i am contributing to its growth and real conversations, and better yet, helping create a home here for other reddit migrants
I really like the speed and overall clean user interface here. I am still learning, but so far I like what I see. Hopefully, we can all grow together into one thriving community!
Yeah, mostly just lurked on Reddit, but here I feel a lot more comfortable engaging with the stuff that gets posted. Since the communities are so much smaller it feels like leaving a comment actually means something instead of just getting drowned out in the noise.
This is my first comment on lemmy, and I'm making it because you're absolutely right. It's almost habbit at this point to hold back and lurk after years of being used to a huge crowd. Defaulting to reading the disscusion but not adding anything to it. But this reminds me a lot of the way smaller forums and neiche communities feel, where there's still room to add something to the thread without needing to yell it. Glad to be here and starting to appreciate the differences already
I really like how willing people are to read and write essays. I like to lay out my argument, cover likely arguments against it, reread it, maybe edit it down or come back to it later.
It makes me understand my own position better, and sometimes I realize I'm wrong (or they no good would come from convincing someone I'm right) and I delete it
On Reddit, people would just skip over it, hell a few people called me out on my response being too long and let me know they didn't read it... One guy said something like "who even are you, I don't know you and my gf doesn't talk to me that much"...it was deeply confusing
I personally love how inclusive everyone (at least 99%) here is and I am personally fighting very much to keep it that way. Although I am white and only an ally and thus not part of LGBT myself, even I feel much safer here although I wouldn't have much to fear on other websites myself.
Honestly just so happy to have a place that’s not diluted by the same tired old jokes being told over and over again, excited to see where this community goes
holy shit, that realization just hit me like a brick wall. on reddit it was always low-hanging dead horse meme answers floating to the top, but here people just write down their genuine thoughts without trying to pander to anyone. it's very refreshing
I agree. I am a very shy person, so, it is not easy for me to comment, even if it is anonymous. I always think that nobody is waiting to hear from me in the enormous stream of other comments that are there as well. At the same time, if by some accident someone actually reads your comment, I feel that if you have a different way of wording or a different opinion, your head will get chopped off.
Because there are far less comments here, I feel like I can actually contribute something to the discussion. And people seem to be just nicer and more willing to understand each other instead of just repeating the same stuff over and over again. I like it better here!
Agreed. This is way more fun. More people respond and it feels nice to be a pioneer again. It’s fun to watch people figure shit out and design solutions to new problems.
Reddit for me has become just stupid trolly comments and karma farming. I called it social experimentation
It seemed like any serious discussion or not subreddit approved opinions were pointless to express. I don't like to say that something is dumb but it did seem limited and boring.
As someone who almost exclusively lurked on Reddit I’m trying to make more of an effort to interact and it definitely feels a lot less daunting. I just need to actually make a post of my own and I’ll be moving in the right direction
Remember that South Park episode where that hardware store became a super Walmart or something and then the new little local store became super popular and really big and until they burnt it down so maybe it's the same case here once platform just becomes too large it needs to be split off back into some of its core components. In a way similar to the way subreddits work where a small community starts springs up with folks that have similar interests.
I've been using reddit a lot since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started for support (I'm Ukrainian). I must say, I sure miss r/NCD and r/Ukraine, but am not planning on going back on reddit. I hope similar communities will eventually develop here.
I've been alternating between Kbin/Lemmy and Squabble after generally being a lurker on Reddit, and the communities for both seem a lot friendlier and willing to engage in actual discussion. So much so that I've actually started posting/commenting.
It also helps that the top comments aren't all the same overused bad joke.