I didn't use reddit much outside of a few niche communities, it had a repetitive brand of humor and weird dogpiling I didn't jive with. Here, I find people genuinely want to engage, with moderation suited to a more mature crowd, at least in the communities I hang around.

There are culture shifts between instances and communities, so I try to have a look around before I speak up. Some places you gotta lurk to get a feel, others are a free for all. I stepped on a few toes while I got my footing — just read the sidebars if you want to avoid that.

Browsing by subscribed is the best experience, in my opinion. I see every instance so ALL is a cacophony of back alley circus heretics if I don't tailor my feed.

Here are some useful tools I picked up in my time here:

Check defederated instances: https://federation-checker.vercel.app/

Fediverse Observer: https://lemmy.fediverse.observer/list

Comparison of Lemmy instances: https://github.com/maltfield/awesome-lemmy-instances

Lemmy apps and discussion (2 years old): https://lemmy.world/post/465785

The Lemmy Rat: https://lemvotes.org/