At least on the communities i follow. Every so often I come across a thread where i recognize most of the users there even in the big communities with over 30k members and I haven’t even been on lemmy that long.
The ratio of commenter/poster to lurker is always pretty lopsided. I also never read user names.
The majority of individuals on platforms like Lemmy—and social media more broadly—engage almost exclusively as passive consumers. Their involvement often begins and ends with the simple act of upvoting or downvoting content. This limited interaction speaks volumes about the nature of digital engagement, where consuming information or entertainment takes precedence over meaningful interaction or contribution. The absence of deeper engagement is not a failing of the platform itself but a reflection of broader societal tendencies.
People, in general, tend toward passivity, a trait that extends beyond online spaces and into areas like civic participation. In the United States, for example, voter turnout remains notoriously low. People express their dissatisfaction with the status quo, they crave change, and they criticize institutions, yet they shy away from taking the minimal steps required to enact that change, often hiding behind a hand-waving comment involving the words “systemic,” “structure,” and/or “institutions,” a transparent way of excusing their unwillingness to actually act. As though they themselves are not parts of those systems, structures, and institutions. The same individuals who will upvote or downvote content online without a second thought are often the ones who abstain from voting in elections, an “upvote/downvote” that directly impact their lives.
What is even more concerning is that this passivity is not merely a result of laziness or apathy, but something ingrained and encouraged by modern society. Our institutions—whether educational, political, or corporate—tend to value compliance over initiative. Decision-making, once seen as a marker of personal agency and responsibility, is increasingly viewed as a burden. People have been conditioned to prefer being told what to do rather than take responsibility for their choices.
If a decision goes wrong, there’s an inherent comfort in being able to place blame on someone else. This social conditioning makes being passive, fading into the wallpaper, not only acceptable but desirable for many. And yet, these same people will often feel deeply dissatisfied with their lives. But, rather than do something about it, they continue to be helpless, wishing someone would decide for them to improve their lives and then forcing them to do it.
While it’s easy to express frustration with the passive nature of online participants, it is also, sadly, understandable. They are products of a society that rewards inaction more than action, where engagement is often reduced to the simplest and least effortful gestures. These platforms reflect the broader societal trend toward disengagement from real, consequential decision-making, reinforcing and reflecting a vicious cycle of passive impotence while they wait for someone or something to fix things for them.
I comment but rarely. I’m a lurker
Honestly, that’s one of the cool parts of old internet (forums, chatrooms, etc.) is getting to know people, you get to know the community 😊
No but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Be the shitpost you want to see in the world.
Most people are probably pretty passive, so yeah, I think there’s a subset of posters who are highly visible. But even over at Hacker News, where there’s a much larger audience commenting, I recognize specific names because something they said in the past got my attention and I start piecing together their personality a bit at a time.
Kinda yeah. BUT my comment to lurk ratio is still less than I did on Reddit. So even my few contributions are still more than I ever really did on Reddit.
more not less, isn’t it?
I don’t see that as a problem personally
A boon, really.
It’s a village vibe, grab onto the grapevine
Hello cousin! Wanna go bowling?
Only if you tell me what your name means
It’s based on the Swedish chef from the Muppets
Basically I have a mustache, love to eat and cook on my spare time, but my food rarely makes sense (everyone thinks it tastes good tho)
I was hoping that was the reference 😂
Am I lemmy famous yet?
Yeah, that’s what you get with smaller communities, you tend to see the same people over and over.
And I kind of like it. We get to know who is worth reading and who isn’t, for the frequent posters at least.
I used to be active on one of my country’s most popular forums, if ranked by daily visits. Self-help Q&A style. Apart from me, there were pretty much only three users contributing about 90% of the content. One of them being the only mod. It took me years to figure out, from the timing and the writing style of the posts, that this mod also poses nearly all of the questions and gives all of the first answers too, using a new single-use sock puppet each time.
At the start of this year, it devolved into plain attention whoring and it was really sad, so I left.
Present.
I almost never comment on anything. I imagine most users are like me.
Yes, I do see the same names popping up all the time.
That’s honestly crazy to me. What’s the appeal of lurking?
To learn…
Sometimes what you were going to comment is already there, you updoot and move along.
Not the person you asked but another lurker. Social interaction is hard, even posting this I’m having second thoughts about it, but I still like to feel like a member of the community.
Congratulations to you on interacting! I agree with everything you said.
I’m certainly not one of the lemmy celebrities, but I’ve got nearly 900 comments on lemmy where I doubt I had 100 on Reddit. Not going back to check.
Lemmy is a just nicer place to comment than Reddit: smaller audience, kinder communities, much less intimidating. I don’t consider there to be any pressure to make posts or to comment, but if you do, I doubt you’ll regret it.
Either way, I personally am happy to have you here.
Welcome to the community, fam!
With such a user pool you’d think I’d make someone laugh
Lol
thanks. don’t I know you ?