Lemmy has so few comments that I am now reading many more articles

Lemmy could definitely use a bit more comment activity on a lot of posts.

I think it’s because nobody really wants to be the first to comment and offer an opinion that might end up going against the grain when a thread develops. There’s no ‘reading the room’ as it were.

I’m doing my part by commenting on threads. Like this one.

That, and when switching from reddit to Lemmy I realized how toxic the relationship there was, and I just use all social media way less now.
- Reddit for sure is toxic. Generally, it’s much easier to be toxic in a large, anonymous group with an endless amount of subreddits to retreat to. Here, it’s maybe 10-20 people talking, so there’s not much room to hide, as it were. You keep running into the same faces, so it’s a bit more important to stay polite.
It's not even just "the first" post. Lemmy is exactly like Reddit where any comments or posts, no matter how high quality, that can be interpreted as "against the grain" will be attacked. Lemmy has the same strong tendency towards group think that Reddit does, it's just lower volume and the bias runs even farther left. Shrug.
- Unfortunate but true, I wonder if it's the upvote system on comment threads
- Occasionally see something similar in real life, run a bar n grill. Just the other night had to tell that crew that I do have a menu, after the 6th order from the same table for dry ribs. Had the first guy ordered wings or a burger, same thing would have happened.
- Most noticeable when you mention neutral and verified facts in partisan threads
I don't often feel like I have something to say that would contribute to the conversation.
- I always tell people, hey, I'm not a bot here posting things, I'm trying to share things I feel you guys would enjoy. If nobody comments, it doesnt incentivize me to continue posting, it makes me feel like a crazy person talking to themselves. I encourage people to say something, even if it's just "I really enjoyed this, thanks for sharing!" or something. I do that from time to time on others' posts. If they're showing me something new, of course I don't know anything about it coming in, but I can let them know now I do know thanks to their contribution here.
  
  All these posts pop up all the time, "dang, it's so dead here" but if instead of making, liking, or commenting on that post, you could thank someone that did post, or share something that you think others might like. I was never a poster on Reddit. I'm no expert on what I post on. I just find stuff I think people would like, and now after doing it for the last few months, now I do know a lot more and can give people better insight than I could in the beginning.
  
  Comments have been feeling low on my posts, and I think when is the point where me making 2 or 3 posts a day isn't worth my time anymore, but then someone will say "oh this post really made my day" and so I come back the next day and post again.
- I never let that stop me!
- Well, comment anyway. You never know what’ll happen.
  
  And even if you have a boring, vanilla opinion on that topic, post it anyway. Because it’ll lower the bar for others to comment as well. (As this entire thread demonstrates)
- Same...
I have also noticed that once a few people "break the ice" it really helps (like you did here). Comments beget comments.
- Shit just open the post and wait 10-20 minutes and refresh and there will be a butt ton of comments ready.
- Exactly. This thread is a perfect example. There’s literally no real topic to discuss, and yet people are talking. And that’s a great thing to encourage if we want to grow this platform 👍
- This has been one of the biggest things I've taken away from my time here too. Especially when I first joined and it was even more barren. I was probably the first comment on over half the posts I viewed for the first few months. Often nothing substantial but it would lead to insightful comments from users who may have never even opened it if they saw zero comments.
Here's me doing my part:

...

Penis

...

How was that?
- Kinda short.
I've written so many comments that I've just deleted before submitting thinking "no one wants to read this garbage anyway."
This. I make it a point to comment on all posts I find interesting, especially if they aren’t any. It almost always spurs discussion.
The last couple years on some other site really reduced the amount I commented. I'm not yet out of that initial instinct of just moving on without trying to engage, it just wasn't worth it a lot of the time over there, had mostly positive experiences here though, experience wise.
It's all the botposting
I'm doing my part starship troopers gif
I've noticed that this effect is much more positive on my reception and well being.

The same comments on Reddit often feel like a coin toss, between positive reception and getting voted into oblivion and hated at. I welcome this change.
I think it’s because nobody really wants to be the first to comment and offer an opinion that might end up going against the grain when a thread develops. There’s no ‘reading the room’ as it were.

Why offer an opinion when one can ask something about the post instead?
I dont know why not. This is not a group of people who knows eachother. We are all strangers.
- Are we? I keep seeing the same usernames again and again, feels like we almost know each other by now
Meh, I expect 90% of what I say to be downvoted and to get called antiemetic too
- You are antiemetic though. I feel quite comfortable deepthroating you.

Lemmy has so few comments that people actually read my comments occasionally, which is wild.

Seriously, that comment got, like, an updoot every two minutes so far. Crazy.
- I hr and 7upvotes in and Im here to give you another handjobby...good work
- Jojo you have the best takes, everybody knows that
Ive gotta agree cheese can go on just about anything.
Hi Jojo!
- You've activated my trap card! Autocorrect has used the spelling of a famous singer instead of little old Jojo.

It is just nice to be able to comment and have it read instead of buried 3000 comments down after the memes and one-liners.

That's what she said... or something.
- this
  
  so much this
- Edit: thanks for the gold kind stranger
- Im not reading all that but congratulations. Or I'm sorry. I don't know whatever works. (This one is actually kinda funny tho)
- What, did you need something?
- Oh, wait, hey! I actually did say basically this!

In a way, thats a win, no ?

Considering a big problem with conversion on Reddit is people just reacting to the headline I’d say it’s a win. I’ve noticed here when people do comment it’s more nuanced because they actually read the article.
- The article summary bot helps my lazy ass lol
- Also, I'm often like... there's one comment and I generally don't agree with it, but I also don't want to make an ass of myself, so let's skim that article first and pick some good parts to slam this dude with. Often I find that I was wrong.
- I wonder if the reason for this is not due to having less comments, but instead because Lemmy simply has a different demographic. For one, I've noticed significantly fewer bad-faith arguments compared to on Reddit. And discussions topics that would have otherwise been trolled to hell and back ended up having reasonably impartial conversations.
  
  I've read that Lemmy users are generally fairly old, compared to users from other social media. I wonder if that has a role in how discussions play out on Lemmy
- There are plenty of posts on Lemmy where many of the commenters clearly didn't read the article. It just depends on how click-baity the title is.
- Except with some libs/racists/etc but yeah I agree for the majority.
Not really. People may talk shit about comments, but if it was just a matter of getting just articles, you might as well stick to the news sites. Even as far as pure news aggregation goes there are better options than relying on whatever a handful people decide to share here.

There's value in public commentary too. It may not be as polished as these articles but it provides a variety of perspectives, questions and criticism that might be pertinent, and for as lacking or biased as they may be, it's much easier to tell compared to sources trying to pretend impartiality.

There's a reason why we are here and not on, say, Feedly. This particular community only highlights it further, since it's entirely based on the interpersonal element. Ain't nobody looking for journalism or scientific articles on !Showerthoughts
- Hey, im clearly in phase with that.
  
  What I've told you I've seen it though.
  
  An feminist articles attacking the male vision on a pure "male subject" like computers and that's just a fight like you can see elsewhere.
  
  In that case, for example, the title is enough to tilt some. I've seen arguments told but if the articles were read, they would have never used it 🤣🤣🤣
  
  I don't know if I'm clear. But I agree with you, just told you me feeling BC of you know, experience x)
- 100%. i'd be more interested in knowing what some guys in a bar in NYC were saying when hitler died versus reading an article about it. articles are just facts put in order. biased opinions make us human.
A great thing about Reddit is that because of its size you would sometimes get an expert in that field or even the person who wrote the paper popping up. It wasn't crazy common but did happen a decent bit.

That is ofc balanced by it being full of complete assholes who have no idea what they're talking about.

It's alright. Lemmy has good content and the comments are far higher quality than Reddit.

Also you can actually have a conversation and people tend to respond a lot more than on Reddit.

I'm finally over the feeling of going into comment sections thinking "there's too many bots, no reason to try adding to the conversation"

reddit had no middle ground between new posts that get buried and overinflated posts that have a thousand regurgitated phrases plastered all over it
- True. I regularly finish all the comments in a Lemmy thread. On Reddit the pile of garbage is far too big and 90% is people saying the exact same thing.
I really don't find the conversation any better, I think this place still needs to grow out of its echo chamber stage where it's a niche place with few commenters or diversity of opinion. I recall Reddit in its early days, different but similar.
Except mine. I'm still an abrupt asshole 😉
- ok

I also really appreciate about Lemmy how there can be a 2 day old thread on everything and I throw in my 2 cents and even after 2 days, that comment gets read. It really beats the endless reposts (and bots reposting top comments!) of reddit.

I'll sometimes comment on stuff but overwhelmingly I don't. I was the same way on reddit. I just feel that I don't have anything meaningful to say so why say anything.

I find myself commenting a lot more here. It's more conversational than reddit. Comments are longer and not just one liner's, and the smaller community means my comments won't be buried. It also feels like a gateway drug to posting. I should post something today. I won't, but I should.
- Yeah, I comment more and longer. Because I'm more confident it will be seen.
And that's the right way to approach it, but in a platform were niche communities are so empty, even a meaningless comment counts

But yeah, I try to follow the same approach, I'm interested in many things, and subscribed to a lot of communities, but why should I comment if it doesn't help or adds anything to the theme of the post

Well, If anyone reads this, keep this as a good habit, even if it feels a bit weird in here, comment when you are of help, and learn from others when you have nothing to say

Edit: I love how the replies to this are doing the exact opposite lol, take care boys, I actually got a good laugh from this
- Seconded
I have this same issue as well.

I just don't feel like I have anything insightful or meaningful to say.

But, I feel like I should in the community I mainly frequent since it's really quiet a lot and the main mod feels like the only person keeping things ticking along.

Impossible. I post too many comments for this to be true.

You really do. I'm pretty sure I see your comments in every thread I read.
- is your username a reference to the song? I like the song very much :)

Moving to Lemmy made me realize how much time I wasted lurking on Reddit. I didn't bother to participate because someone would have already said what I thought. Sometimes I could even read one thread for days because there was just so much to read.

But I don't know if it's good or bad if there are so many comments. Maybe it's good if you learn something useful but I don't think it's that useful to read for days about random subject you don't need. At least it's a some form of entertainment. I think I just read less now that I'm on Lemmy.

Weirdly I've somehow adjusted for inflation. On reddit I wouldn't bother commenting if there were more than 1000 comments, here I don't bother if there are already 100.
- Quality vs quantity.
  
  10 comments here likely means 10 people have unique thoughts. 1000 comments usually means memes and bots.
  
  I used to hate reddit in springtime when the kids got out from school. Now it's always springtime.

I delete about 80% of the comments I write before posting. Even if I took the time to write a long response. This is because of the general nature of the Internet and reddit culture is definitely here on Lemmy. But, like this comment, I'll try to engage more because I also miss the discussion aspect on posts.

Most people are guilty of that to some extent. You want to make a good response, but end up overthinking it and moving on. Which is a shame. God only knows how many awesome comments end up in the digital wastebasket.

Besides, what’s the worst that can happen? Who really gives a fuck about downvotes anyway.
- I do the exact same thing, once my comment reaches a paragraph long I just think "this is way too much stupid information to add, fuck it all, cancel." Maybe I should shitpost random thoughts either way and let the chips fall where they may.
I often realise as I've written it that I may be doxxing myself (sharing an anecdote about my past etc) so often that's my reason to delete. It's pretty paranoid but I do value my anonymity here.
Just go for it. At the end of the day it’s only internet points.

I refuse to comment on this post, it's blatantly pandering. Drink Coca~cola.

Welcome to Costco, I love you.

Has @showerthoughts ever been about silly shower thoughts on Lemmy or is it just hot takes here.

We had a brief period where it was actual shower thoughts.
- Yeah, it just feels like ask lemmy but with jeopardy rules.
- I recommend not using Lemmy while showering, it's bad for your energy bill. Also electronics.
Better than Reddit’s “guys, life is like bideo game”

I consider it a plus. I do value also being able to read most, if not all, comments on lemmy too.

"I wonder what people's opinions are, or of there's something more to learn about this topic!"

"Oh, there's nothing here..."

This is the biggest bummer of Lemmy so far for me. I miss the conversation.

I try to contribute, even if I'm the only one who comments.

Come on mate, it might have been the case at the inception of Lemmy but now there's interesting content everywhere, even in your bait post 😁

#nocomment

i usually just wait on the comments. articles are dry and boring, comments have opinions and views and emotion and juice

A lot of articles are nothing but opinions and views, usually involving emotions!

Good on one size, you get more info, bad on the other since a big part of this is sharing opinions and discuss

The quality of comments on Lemmy, I've noticed, are far better than Reddit comments on average.

When you remove all the fluff, there's about the same if not more useful stuff in comment threads here, however on Lemmy there's way less fluff (again just what I've noticed).

I've noticed there are more absolutely batshit crazy takes.
- Like what? Can you link?
- I prefer that to the amount of wildly bigoted comments I would see on Reddit.

Good for you.

I know that was probably meant positively. But that's not how I read it initially, lol

I had to read it a few times first...
- Good for you.

Type here to comment...

And have a good feeling not reading all of them.

ive found a similar problem. i actually started reading the microblog/twits section of the verse when the bots are done doin their thing.. lemmy is missing half the 'verse.

I see a fairly healthy comment activity, but I'm also fine with like 65 comments, after that I get bored

As others have said, the comments definitely feel more substantial / thought out here than they tend to on Reddit.

Less shitposting and people regurgitating memes for sure, but it’s been easier to actually ask a question and get an answer here.

On Reddit you end up having to filter through a bunch more BS when you’re just looking for information a lot of the time.

Commentfest

This is just comment baiting

And it‘s working

I did notice that I actually click and read articles more here, vs on reddit where I just read the comments.

I agree with the title statement. Why do I comment less? Articles much fewer?

Typically I don't feel the need to comment on lemmy

There are plenty of comments, not enough posts

No u

Here's a comment for contradiction's sake. May your online days be merry and full of commentary.

Articles are shorter now too.

Still doesn't prevent all the comments from reacting to the headline

The comments are sorted nicely therefore. People can add more comments later, and they don't just disappear at the bottom.

This is not the right community for that. Definitely not a shower thought. Come on imods. And let's not upvote crap like this.

And such a narrow scope of posts I started going directly to news sources again