I also had a terrible first experience posting on Reddit, which turned me off from activity submitting any content and only commenting rarely. I mostly lurked and voted, which I still thought of as participating in the community. But in my short time here (Kbin for me), I see the entire userbase as activity welcoming and generally nicer! Just looking at the voting scores, it seems that downvots are hardly used at all! Maybe it's a good thing we're separating from the common audience that was quick to turn toxic and become combative for the fun of it.
I also had a terrible first experience posting on Reddit, which turned me off from activity submitting any content and only commenting rarely. I mostly lurked and voted, which I still thought of as participating in the community. But in my short time here (Kbin for me), I see the entire userbase as activity welcoming and generally nicer! Just looking at the voting scores, it seems that downvots are hardly used at all! Maybe it's a good thing we're separating from the common audience that was quick to turn toxic and become combative for the fun of it.