🌟 Welcome to Beehaw: Your Friendly Online Community!🌟

Are you seeking a vibrant and inclusive online space where you can connect with like-minded individuals? Look no further! We’re thrilled to introduce you to Beehaw, a unique community that aims to create an environment as welcoming as a warm hug.

At Beehaw, we’re all about cultivating a sense of belonging, fostering meaningful conversations, and ensuring everyone feels valued and respected. Whether you’re a seasoned online community explorer or a curious newcomer to this instance, we’ve got you covered. Let us walk you through some of the most frequently asked questions to help you get started on this exciting journey:

❔ “What is Beehaw?”

A: Beehaw is an online community that shares similarities with the popular platform Reddit. Here, you’ll discover an array of diverse communities and topics, ranging from passionate hobbyists to knowledgeable experts. We strive to create a safe and inclusive space for all, promoting positive interactions and providing an engaging platform to connect, learn, and have fun through our various communities.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions:

1️⃣ “How do I get started?” A: Getting started is a breeze! Simply create an account, Select our instance for you to join through here: https://beehaw.org/signup

-and start exploring the various communities within Beehaw. Find topics that interest you, join discussions, and contribute your thoughts. Don’t hesitate to reach out to our friendly community managers such as myself or fellow members if you need any guidance along the way.

❔ 2️⃣ “What are the community guidelines?”

A: The only rule here is to be(e) nice. If you’d like to understand more why the only rule we have is open to interpretation or judgment, check out the section on our philosophy in the sidebar.

3️⃣ ❔“How can I report inappropriate behavior?”

A: If you come across any behavior that violates our community guidelines or makes you feel uncomfortable, we urge you to report it. Simply click on the appropriate option provided via the report option, and the dedicated moderation team will handle the situation promptly and discreetly.

4️⃣ ❔ “What is an instance and why do I keep hearing about them, how does Lemmy tie into it?”

A: Well my Little humanoid! It’s quite easy to understand. Think of each instance as their own little community like a discord server, a Facebook community, or an email address. By making an account for beehaw (link here once again https://beehaw.org/signup ) you are signing up on the Beehaw instance, but you can interact with every other instance which we are federated with, such as the main Lemmy instance. Some instances are not very nice and we have defederated with them due to problematic behavior, so if you want to interact with those communities you’ll have to sign up elsewhere.

5️⃣ ❔“How can I contribute to the Beehaw community?”

We’re glad you asked! There are numerous ways to contribute and make Beehaw an even better place:

a) Engage in discussions: Share your thoughts, insights, and experiences on various topics. Participate actively in conversations and engage with fellow community members.

b) Create quality content: Share interesting articles, thought-provoking questions, captivating artwork, or informative resources. Be creative and contribute something unique to the community.

c) Help others: If you come across a question or request for assistance, lend a helping hand. Beehaw thrives on a culture of support, where members assist each other in finding solutions, learning new things, or providing guidance.

d) Report inappropriate content: If you encounter any content that violates the community guidelines or goes against our values, report it promptly. By doing so, you help maintain a positive and respectful environment for all.

e) Share your expertise: If you have specialized knowledge or skills, consider hosting an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session or providing valuable insights in your areas of expertise in the “Chat” Community. Sharing knowledge is a fantastic way to contribute and foster learning within the community.

6️⃣ ❔“How can I connect with other Beehaw members and Communities?”

Connecting with fellow Beehaw members is an integral part of the community experience. Here are some ways to establish connections:

a) Engage in discussions: Participate in conversations, reply to comments, and engage with other members who share your interests. Or don’t if you prefer to browse anonymously!

B) check our community’s listings here! https://beehaw.org/communities

7️⃣ ❔“How can I give feedback or suggest improvements?”

We highly value your feedback and suggestions, as they help us enhance the Beehaw community. Here’s how you can share your thoughts:

a) Moderators: If you have feedback or suggestions specifically related to a particular community, reach out to the moderators of that specific community. They are there to listen to your concerns and work towards making improvements.

b) Community managers: Beehaw only has one community manager who oversees the overall community experience, being myself but I’m sure as we continue to grow we’ll gain more active sitewide staff members. Feel free to mention or reply to this post with your feedback or suggestions, and I’ll be more than happy to assist you with passing them to the developers or answering directly!

c) Community feedback channels: Look out for community-wide feedback channels, such as periodic surveys or discussion threads like https://beehaw.org/post/413919 for instance!, where you can provide your input. These threads are designed to gather feedback from the entire community and shape the future direction of Beehaw.

8️⃣ ❔“I want to donate to this specific instance, how do I financially donate to this specific instance? Can I donate anonymously? Can I donate crypto?”

A: Yes, Yes, (and hopefully) yes if you prefer that option!

https://opencollective.com/foundation/updates/ocf-can-now-receive-cryptocurrency here are the steps to donate crypto currency by opencollective (if they updated this please inform me below!)

And if you prefer the traditional method of donation, we have our donation link here!

https://opencollective.com/beehaw/donate

Running servers and all that mess can get rather expensive, especially with upgrading and switching systems. So we encourage those to donate if you absolutely want to. Please do not send us donations if you cannot financially support yourself, only do it if you absolutely feel inclined to. We aren’t trying to extort our user base for cash to keep the site running 24/7 of course. Simply donate to the server’s expenses if you feel like you can.

Remember, your voice matters, and we are committed to continuously improving the Beehaw community based on your valuable input.

🌈 We hope these additional points address some of the common questions you may have about Beehaw. Below you are free to ask any additional questions and I’ll try to get to them as soon as possible.