True, I think the "lemmy is so confusing to join" concerns are overblown (just make an account?), but admittedly the community finding part is... not intuitive. People really aren't seeing everything that's out there through the standard search if their instance isn't federated with the instance where the target community is hosted, or no one on their instance has searched for that community before. Having to go offsite for tools to find communities is a poor experience.
Beauty communities seem conspicuously absent for topics that have a large internet presence elsewhere. Makeup, skincare, hair, nail art, etc. I specifically miss the asian beauty sub.
We have a few general cooking/food communities that are nice and active, but I miss more specific things like ask culinary, chef knives, and communities geared toward dietary restrictions.
City and region-specific forums.
I have joined several instances and all have their pros and cons, but I'll plug the most recent one (lemmings.world) because it checked all of these boxes for me:
Yes, I'd love an audiobooks community! I'd also like audiobook and ebook deals communities.
A headphones community exists! !headphones@lemmy.film
This was my exact trajectory and reasoning, but I ended up adding lemmings.world after that. 😅
I can’t make a comparison unfortunately as I haven’t joined lemmy.zip, but it seems like a good instance to me!
I highly recommend subscribing to a meal delivery kit for a few weeks, I think they’re fantastic for beginners. Reasons:
I definitely don’t recommend doing this long term because it starts to get repetitive and is ultimately more expensive than doing your own shopping and planning, but it removes quite a few barriers to entry. Home Chef was the one I enjoyed the most personally but Blue Apron is also reliable and liked by many. Once you are comfortable with the basics you can really just search any recipe you’re interested in and just go for it; follow your interests and the skills will come with experience.
This is something I worry about as well (mid-thirties millennial), but I'm really hoping it won't be a problem. Anecdotally, I don't notice any appreciable difference between myself and my dad (technically a boomer) when it comes to technology, but my mom isn't as comfortable. I think it's because my dad spends more time using various types of current tech and is willing to troubleshoot on his own, so maybe it's just a matter of continued exposure and a willingness to learn.
At the same time I see my grandparents really struggle with digital interfaces because they didn't grow up with them and don't find them intuitive, in a way that can't be explained by lack of curiosity. It's almost like they're not fluent in the language because they missed a critical period of learning in childhood? If a brand new, extremely different way to interface with the world takes over, I guess I could see myself and my peers struggling as well.
It's basically the same for me! I'd say anchovies/fish sauce in general. My first introduction was through Thai fish sauce, which I grew up with and learned how to use in Thai cooking. Then, I started cooking with anchovies in oil and Worcestershire sauce in what I viewed as their respective cuisines. At some point I understood the similar role these ingredients played in providing the umami element needed to complete a dish, and that made me feel more confident using them in a wider variety of foods and "across" cuisines as needed. Used in the appropriate amount, they won't overpower a dish or turn it fishy; a little bit provides so much flavor!