hi there. I’m new. I’ve recently migrated from kbin.social (RIP) in the hopes of filling that big empty hole in my webs that reddit left after The Troubles.
First impressions after a week of use:
- Beehaw feels a little lonely. Not a lot of activity. Same posts on my subscriptions front page throughout the day with little movement on upvotes and comments. It’s the summer in the north so maybe people have better things to do with their time, but I am wondering, does it pick up?
- Fewer users than kbin? It feels like there are smaller numbers on the Communities subscriptions than I’m used to on kbin. Granted, kbin was inundated with spammers and bot accounts over the last couple of months so those numbers are probably not as real as I’d like them to be, and I appreciate Beehaw’s limits on new members by pushing a signup form and a review process. A social network needs users though.
- Subscribing across instances feels weird. Maybe it’s the instance (lemmy.ca) but I tried following a couple of communities from there and my subscription was marked “Pending”. Are we defederated?
So, my Ask is this: Do you have any recommendations for a newbie at Beehaw to make the most of my experience here? Are there any non-obvious Communities I should join? I’m looking for friends and fun. Where do?
Hi and welcome! Sometimes responses come in quickly around here, but sometimes conversations on Beehaw are a little more asynchronous - it’s not exactly uncommon to get a response several days later (at least in my experience). I think part of it is just that there’s less strife than that other site, so fewer people are anxiously/obsessively checking every few minutes.
Personally, I like to browse Local>New first and then switch to Local>Active - catch up on what’s new, and then dip in to some conversations. At first it felt a little weird not having those hyperspecific niche topics, but I actually kind of love Beehaw’s “big tent” approach to their communities. You’re sure to find them represented somewhere, but the times I’ve posted in !creative or !diy (for example) it’s been really nice to chat with people who haven’t been exposed to things and be excited with them.
And definitely chime in on the weekly threads! We want to cheer you on when things are great and bolster your spirits when they’re not.
Lally, you are just the best kind of people. Thank you for the kindness you provide.
It’s thanks, in part, to all of you - y’all inspire me and make me want to give you my best