Hello there, and welcome to the Fediverse! Let's get you started.
This post was created together with many users, intended to help you have an easy start! It has a simple language, and it includes many useful links.
For your first day here
Hello, newbie user! Lemmy is just like Reddit, but better. Ha-ha. Seriously. But let's not overwhelm you for now.
This very neat starting guide was written by our beloved admin, @ruud. To avoid confusion, start reading it from the Quick start guide section.
If you're new to Lemmy, this post will also help you perfectly.
kbin users can check out this amazing starting guide instead. This is also a nice guide.
Finding Communities on Lemmy/kBin
If you finished reading your starting guide, it's time to go find your new favorite communities! Check out these dedicated services: number 1, 2, 3, and 4, and 5! Go have some fun! :D
For your second day here
Hello again! You're less of a newbie now, and you found some amazing communities! We can start talking about the Fediverse. I hope you didn't forget to read the rules for lemmy.world!
kBin.social's rules are in this link.
The Fediverse
You must've realised that we addressed Lemmy and kBin users differently. And what is this Fediverse people keep talking about, anyways?
Lemmy and kBin are two different platforms, and they can perfectly interact with each other! This means that they are a part of the federation. And they are only two members of the vast Fediverse.
What is the Fediverse? video by Framasoft to get a good understanding with visuals!
As a great lemming once said: Fediverse is basically like a group chat, but for websites. This means that federated websites all agree to share their content with each other, constantly, at the same time.
Follow this link to view a list of all Lemmy instances.
Follow this link to open the Fediverse Observer. It is set to show kBin, but you can navigate your way through the site to show any Fediverse platform you'd like.
For your third day here
That's it! What else do you want? Go have some fun and keep learning along the way! ;)
It might be worth noting that the platform is stable, but still growing. Expect little quirks; we're dealing with a big influx of new users.
For example, I joined during the first big wave of signups and the servers were having trouble keeping up with the sudden spike in activity (10 to 1000x+ new posts/users/instances). I would sometimes see federated content, sometimes not. After 12 hours and a massive effort by the devs, everything became MUCH more stable.
There will be bugs, but they are actively being squashed at breakneck speed.
For example, one that I encounter regularly is leaving a thread open in a background tab too long (on Firefox) eventually stops syncing with the server. When I eventually get to that tab, the data is old and attempting to interact (click arrows, reply, subscribe, etc.) send me to an error page. The fix? Refresh the page if was open more that 30 minutes ago. It's a minor bug that will eventually be fixed, so give it time.
I also wanted to throw some advice out there, in case it's useful...
If they're ever confused, there are plenty of support communities/magazines. First, check if others have posted about the same problem. If they haven't, feel free to ask. The NoStupidQuestions community hosts a ton of simple Fediverse-related questions posted by users, and it has some of the highest engagement on the platform. I know the reluctance of posting may have been ground into you by Reddit, but (a) this isn't Reddit, and (b) we're all new here.
There is a slight learning curve, so canoodle around a bit to get a feel for this new Reddit-esque multiverse. Read a few FAQs, skim the support communities, follow a few rabbit holes.
Here's what I suspect is a semi-normal new user experience (because it was mine :) ):
To start, you'll want to register an account, so you do. You'll click a few stories, try to comment, and find you're not logged in and can't log in. You'll notice you're not on the original server. Do you have to register a million accounts? That makes no sense! The answer is no.
Next, you'll want to understand why. That post you clicked took you to another instance (think of them as servers). So, how do you post a comment on another instance? Ah, from your home instance. So, did it matter where I registered? Yes and no, but mostly no.
You'll eventually go back to hit on those forks in the path you didn't take. Follow whichever path suits you best and expand from there.