1% rule: 1% of users actively create new content, while the other 99% only lurk.
en.wikipedia.org
a.k.a. the 90–9–1 principle. Does the Fediverse follow this rule, or are there more creators here as early adopters? Are you a creator, a participator or a lurker?
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i'm usually a lurker because i usually don't have anything important to add to the discussion; i don't really want to leave a lot of empty/useless comments around
But on the flip side, when you post useless comments people like me can post useless replies and in doing so we help a post get more traction which helps Lemmy grow
Growth for growths sake doesn't help anybody
Maybe, but having a sense of community maked a big difference in keeping people engaged when communities are small and need to grow. There are certainly plenty of spaces that should be kept clean and on topic but if everything is always dry and boring you will have limited engagement and limited repeats.
When a lurker knows how to "newfags can't triforce"
Or respond to "Red Leader standing by."
Then they see positive feedback from the community they feel like they are part of the community vs an observer and tribalism is one of the strongest features/bugs of humanity.
This also helps keep discussions civil when you can realize the person you have having a disagreement with regarding "tensor wave field dynamics in corn flakes" isn't just a raging dick because they used the "specific gravity of skim milk instead of whole milk like you were."
Edit: make to makes and mile to milk
I think an obligatory link to https://tvtropes.org/ is in order.
Bet
Especially when there's a lot of comments repeating the same points. Like, sure you can add to it but there is only so much left to add after a certain point.
What are your interests though?
You find a place you lurk that you are also interested in and eventually there will be something for you to contribute even if it is sharing information that you previously saw and share with a new set of people.