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What is the best way to be involved in a forum discussion
I signed onto Reddit six years ago because that was where I could discuss stuff I liked intelligently. Due to social awkwardness and poor conversational skills, I feel like I contribute nothing to the conversation anywhere, on forums or IRL. I even signed up for Stack Exchange, Hacker News, and Ars Techinca for discussion, but they all look like you need a Ph.D. to contribute anything meaningful?
Am I alone on this? How can I be a productive part of the conversation?
Wanting to contribute something is understandable but don’t forget that it’s totally optional. It’s just a website and lurking is fine. When you do contribute then it should be in a way you enjoy.
I don’t know you enough to say what you could do, but I can say what I do, and maybe it will suggest something?
Finding interesting links and sharing them works pretty well for me. It’s a lot easier than writing stuff myself. I have a blog but it’s high-effort in comparison.
I’ll post links I see on Hacker News or another one of my feeds if I think they’re interesting enough, but I think that’s low-effort and it results in the same articles posted everywhere. Doing web searches about things I’m curious about is better for finding unusual links. It’s also how I judge what I’m really curious about.
When I do find myself writing something it’s usually because I disagree with something that someone said, but recently I realized that’s often just the seed that gets me writing, it often has little to do with the person I’m replying to, and that often it doesn’t need to be a reply to them at all, even though that’s what started me off.
I feel that same way most of the time too. Especially in larger forums or online communities, it can be easy to get discouraged when you finally post something only for it to get ignored. It is important to stick with it though, find a post you have some interest in, and post your point of view. That post you make about how you feel about a certain topic might encourage other people to come out of the woodwork and either agree with you, or challenge you on it helping your knowledge on the subject to grow. From that, you'll start to get a bit of confidence and you'll quickly see your perceived awkwardness fall away.
First of all, don't feel bad. I've worked in community management for some years, mostly forums, and the golden rule is 90-9-1: 90% of members in most communities are lurkers, 9% contribute from time to time, only 1% post consistently. And of those who do post, the overwhelming majority post comments to existing discussions, they don't create new threads.
Don't feel like you have to post just for the sake of posting. Just go with the flow and let it happen naturally. E.g. you're reading a discussion about something that affects you, and you have a point of view, or a personal example: put that in as a comment. It doesn't have to be fancy: just write down your thoughts/experience on the matter. Other people might have had the same issue and will relate.
Same with new threads: don't force yourself to come up with ideas to post just for the sake of posting. Because that's what results in floods of irrelevant posts that actually ruin a community and make it harder for people to find the answers they need. Let it come to you naturally and post when needed.
Honestly the best way to do it is to just go for it, post away. Whenever I join a new community the most I’ll do is post around and get a feel for the community and what the general vibe is. There’s a time and place for serious discussion but I also don’t think every single post needs to be thirty paragraphs or whatever.
I, too, find it difficult to participate in conversation irl. But I don’t have that problem online because there’s more choice in when and where to participate, I think. IRL if I want to participate in a conversation I have to do it then while the conversation is happening, but online I can come back to a specific thread anytime I want. Earlier today I took a nap in the middle of typing a reply to someone just because I could.
You could start by talking about a hobby you have or what book you’re currently reading. Talk about your pet, if you have one. Keep in mind that you don’t have to post anything if you don’t want to. Just reading and voting is participating.