Checked out Tildes for a bit and it's probably where I'd go first if I had to choose, since I prefer conversation over memes and I do really feel like I may be looking for a forum experience.
But I decided in the end to focus on this place for now. It could use the activity and, more importantly, I got the sense that my time on reddit and sites like it have left me a little...too Reddit, still, for the type of interaction Tildes goes out of its way to curate for.
Sometimes I really do just want to show off something, but doing so is discouraged unless one intends to use it to spark conversation. Which I thought happened naturally, and I cannot begin every single post I make with, "İ do x, do any of you do x??"
İt would be painfully redundant, and of course they do underwater basket weaving or whatever. That's why they're hanging out, reading posts in the basket weaving section.
Will possibly reconsider in the future, but I feel atm that I fit better here.
Raddle and squabbles...I've not heard great things, though granted this was from people who didn't like them enough to join, so. Bias.
Both seem like politically extreme reddit wannabes, and looking into squabbles came off as somewhat...tumblr-esque? It seemed polite and friendly-ish, but it could be construed as creepy friendly and they were already fighting about whether or not toxic positivity was a thing.
I'm also concerned about comments from their own userbase that their dev didn't really have a clear road map and was mostly just doing things in all directions, all at once, by himself. So I'mma back away from squabbles til they settle a bit more.