Yep. Certified non-tech nerd here. And not quite 30, either.
I was awfully close to not figuring out Lemmy enough to make an account and participate.
I still don’t understand exactly what’s going on, but I can confirm that my first time visiting was extremely confusing. So many terms I was completely unfamiliar with, and no clear way for me to jump in easily (like you were describing with having to make important decisions before signing up/understanding). Truly the only reason I ended up successfully making it here was that I saw a post on the instance I ended up joining, welcoming reddit refugees so I figured - well, I guess I could try this one. And that was after I had searched around online to figure out what the heck the fediverse, instances, etc, were.
The barrier to entry is really high for those of us with little to no tech knowledge. And I was really motivated, I reeeeally wanted to commit to leaving reddit. I imagine those who are considering joining but aren’t quite as motivated just won’t make it. :(
For me, it’s sticking my hand out of the window of a moving car. Whether I’m driving or not, I love having the windows down and waving my hand in the wind. I’ve loved it since I was a child and I’ll never stop doing it!
I have summers off from work (am a teacher), which I COULD be using to get tons of errands done, renovating the house, working out, etcetc. However, I am currently spending it sleeping in, playing too many video games, staying up late, crafting, reading, etc, which is exactly what I did during summer as a kid as well. It’s been nice :)
I suspect the meaning is obvious and I’m just being a silly goose, but I’ve just been sort of bouncing around among them, since I’m not quite sure of the difference.
Eh, I think discussing potential improvement ideas isn’t harmful, as long as it’s done respectfully. IMO, that’s how you figure out the best improvements, with people sharing different perspectives/opinions/etc. Most of the discussion I’ve seen about Lemmy so far has been like that, not demanding changes or being rude to the developers (in fact, most of the sentiment I’ve seen towards the developers/hosts of instances has been super positive, which is great). I don’t think that folks entering the community should feel unwelcome to voice their opinions, even if others might disagree or those in charge don’t choose to make those changes in the end. But seeing folks talking about these things and seeing the number of people in support or against something might help someone in charge realize that maybe some change or update would actually be really beneficial to their site, and end up helping them make something their even more proud of. Although, I can imagine a huge influx of people to any site like this, along with the sudden boom in corresponding discussions, is pretty crazy to deal with if you’re the creator(s) of said site.
Does it feel like the fediverse is exclusively used by older tech nerds?
The mastodon and lemmy content I’m seeing feels like 90% of it comes from people who are:...
What is a fun childish thing you still do as an adult?
For me, it’s sticking my hand out of the window of a moving car. Whether I’m driving or not, I love having the windows down and waving my hand in the wind. I’ve loved it since I was a child and I’ll never stop doing it!
What is the difference between "Active", "Hot", and "Top Hour/Day/etc" when browsing Lemmy posts?
I suspect the meaning is obvious and I’m just being a silly goose, but I’ve just been sort of bouncing around among them, since I’m not quite sure of the difference.
YSK: Subscriber count on communities only show the numbers of users subscribed from your specific instance. The real number might be much larger than you think.
You can use lemmyverse.net to check actual subscriber numbers....