Maybe this is a dumb question. I’ve always been a lurker on social media, but I really want to help the Fediverse grow, and I’ve never been sure of how to engage with social media communities without feeling like I’m not contributing anything of value. What types of posts/comments/interactions are most needed on the Fediverse? Also, what are some tips on becoming less nervous to interact online? Sorry if this isn’t the right community to post to, wasn’t sure where to ask this.
I mostly comment to provide extra information, or correct bad information; to bring forth some part of a news article that wasn’t being covered in the other comments; or to make a poor attempt at humor.
I mostly post when I see someone elsewhere that I think is interesting or newsworthy, and that I haven’t seen covered here already (not often).
Do you have an interest in a particular area? I’d search out those communities and start contributing there, whether that’s by comments or posting. When I first joined the fediverse, I spent a couple months over on historyporn. The mod there posts a new image every day, and I’d reverse-image search the image and post a comment about it. Sometimes the comment was about the content of the image, sometimes it was about the photographic technique (I learned there’s was a technique in the early 1900s or so, where they took simultaneous photos on three different films to produce a pseudocolor print, and I think they used rice in it somehow), and sometimes it was about the photographers (I learned there’s was a guy who sent photographers around the world to photograph whatever local cultures, customs, and landmarks they deemed interesting). It was fun. You could find a community of one of your interests, and post something relevant there once a week, or make a commitment to yourself to comment on a thread every other day or something.