Ask Lemmy

I don't know how it works, but it does!

Gmail is an email provider, and so is protonmail. They are two companies providing email services. And you can communicate between the two email services by sending emails. Both email providers have their own rules and regulations you have to follow because they are run by different people in different places/countries.

Lemmy is similar. Each Lemmy instance provider is run by different people in different places/countries. When you make a comment or post on one instance, it automatically sends your message/post to the other Lemmy providers/instances (if they don't block the federation). You have to follow the rules of the provider/instance you join, just like for email providers.

Choosing a Lemmy provider/instance based on location or theme is the most common. Also, it's recommended to not choose the most popular instance, because that would defeat the purpose of federation if everyone is in one place, like reddit (one company, one location, one rule set for the entire platform).

push the buttons!

Read posts and comments. Upvote the good stuff, downvote the bad stuff. Post comments, ask questions, join communities etc.

If you write stuff people like, you’ll get upvotes. If you’re mean, you get downvoted to oblivion.

Welcome to Lemmy, here are a few pointers to help you settle in

• !newtolemmy@lemmy.ca
• !communitypromo@lemmy.ca

There's no algorithm so it's up to you to block communities you don't have an interest in. If you see a user you constantly don't like you can block them too. By structuring it that way you'll get a feed of things you want to see and people you want to hear from.

(You can always un-do a block if you change your mind)

If you're able to post here, you already know most about-it,

You subscribe to communities, post content, and comment-it, you can upvote the content and sometimes downvote it, as easy-as-it.

Regarding the federation, here is an explication for Mastodon but it also applies to here https://tilvids.com/w/887e7b95-a6b1-4df1-83fd-d5c47f17ec4c

It's like Reddit, but not owned by a large faceless corporation intent on using it for social engineering. That being said, if you disagree with the political ideology of some instances they'll give you a ban for racism and not qualify it. Eg don't talk badly about Russia or Palestine on lemmy.ml posts. Generally, be nice and people will reciprocate. Except lemmy.ml.

Lemmy as a whole is a community of people who choose it as a nice place to spend time.

Just participate. Or don't. Either is fine.

If you do, be kind. Plenty of people here seeking positive interaction and discussion.

If you don't, make sure you at least up/downvote stuff. It still contributes to this amazing community.

Either way, you are welcome here.

I can't

Think of email in how accounts are named. Mine is CaptainBasculin@lemmy.bascul.in, where lemmy.bascul.in is the instance I use, similar to an email server.

Now, on email you can send mail to users from other mail servers like from hotmail to gmail, right? It works the same way on lemmy, and also the fediverse. You can see posts made on other instances, reply on them and upvote them.

Communities are similar to subreddits, with the main difference that there are many servers (instances) instead of just over main website. I find it helpful to think of it as IRC servers on the larger networks: your user is associated with one instance, but you can access users and Communities associated with different ones more or less seamlessly.

Id start by asking for help from experienced vetrans of this site instead of other new users to the site🤪 /s