I don’t think there’s really any other choice but to just jump in. Both feet or toe doesn’t really matter as long as you get in there at some point. I’ve been around message boards – and prior to that, BBSes – in various capacities for the last 20 years, so I guess I’ve gotten kinda used to it. There’s always still that “there’s-always-someone-more-erudite” syndrome though. Especially around here. 
Then you should wander over to Great Debates and act as logic monitor for those who feel the need to confuse emotion for thought. (You don’t have to express your opinion, just make sure that other posters are not waving around fallacies like kites on a gusty day.)
Just wanted to say I’m with you . 
Dang - two of you beat me to it! Renee, join us! All you shy folks, too! Nothing is off topic and unless you act like a total butthead (which I’m sure you’re not) you’ll be welcomed warmly! And you can tell 'em I said so!
Yes. I haven’t checked my posting rate but I would guess it’s somewhere around 1 per month. Usually by the time I get to a thread what I would have said has already been said and there doesn’t seem to be much point in posting just to say “Me too.” The pathetic part is that I’ve been a member for years and still haven’t grown out of this newbie shyness.
I post in fits and starts. Sometimes, I’ll go for weeks without posting. Or I’ll start to make a post, and get a case of the shy and go away to read something else. Then a few weeks later, I’ll end up posting to almost every thread I come across. Sometimes people respond to me, sometimes others seem to rehash what I just said two posts before hand. But nobody’s made me feel unwelcome.
I get the feeling sometimes that because I’ve paid, I really should post more. But that doesn’t come on too often any more. $15 is not much in the scheme of things, and if it lets me post even as infrequently as I do, then it’s worth it.
Take heart, there’s a lot of lurkers who pony up the $15 and then don’t say much at all.
What **Pendgwen ** said! 
How 'bout I get drunk, start a weird thread in which everyone can get their feet thoroughly wet, so we can practice a little to get over our shyness without ending up in The Pit? Sort of a boring MMP (not Monday, or Morning, but still a Post in which random sharing & hijacks are encouraged) just for Lurkers, Newbies & the Shy? I promise that the OP will be not articulate, completely without cites and possibly whiny, so y’all will look good by comparison.
What say ye?
Aaaahhhh - finally a thread I can really relate to!
Lurkers are cool. 
It’s the tux. Very few people can feel comfortable wearing one of those–it adds to the feeling of strangeness.
None at all. First time I came here, I opened a thread, read the original post, and thought this place needs my wisdom, insight and understanding, and started posting. I haven’t looked back. Actually, I think that was the last post by someone else I read.
Oh, it’s like I wrote that myself.
And McNew, I bet I could beat you in a thread kill-off contest. I’m a master.
Sometimes I just answer myself a few times so it’s like a real conversation!
well, I’ll always say hi, anyway.
Um, yeah, me too.
Maybe I’ll just start more threads, even if I don’t have any interesting stories to share, it can be an opportunity for others to tell their own.
We were all new here once, and I still read many more threads than I post to. Just keep reading, post when you have something to say, and you’ll be good to go.
Maybe you and I should just keep responding to each other in this thread, and one of us is bound to kill it. Then the other one can respond “HA!!”
There are some areas that I’m still a bit hesitant to post, based on the grammar and spelling Nazis usually lurking nearby, waiting to pounce. The point of the post may have been lost as the “scholars” debate my use of a certain word.
To anyone who’s afraid of posting, just post away. We’re all just average Joes and Janes (who, if you go by some threads, are all certified geniusessesses and started reading and complex math a day before breast feeding) around here.
Take me, for example. I’m just your average 24 year old college student. I’m just typing this thread out while wearing a *suit because I like it.
*read: tube sock, a sombrero, and a giant foam finger, which makes typing VERY difficult.
On a serious note, something will pique your curiousity. Some thread will be there that you’re interested in and that you feel you can provide something to. I encourage you to post, because if you don’t, we’re not learning from you, dammit.
Don’t let Great Debates intimidate you. They’re kittens and there’s lots of verbal jousting, but sometimes topics veer so far from the original statement, it ends up being almost funny.
You SHOULD, however beware the MMP. I sware, they’re all hydras in there that suck the meat out of any passerby. They want some fresh meat, that’s why they’re trying to push you to their lair. Oh, they talk about mundane things and banter about seemingly useless, trivial things that happen during their day, but don’t let it fool you. Believe it or not, that thread is the NSA’s number 1 most wiretapped place on the internets.**
**with this being said, how can you NOT go and visit?
just because you don’t get quoted, doesn’t mean that your post went unnoticed. I laugh at things other people write here, and seldom post that it made me laugh. That’s not my style.
I’m sure any and all newbies like music of some sort, have favorite movies, and maybe even watch a little TV. Cafe Society is great for that.
If you have an interest in anything specific, there’s either a thread already going on the subject, or you should start one.
Don’t sweat the word police. As one of my favorite and most quotable humans of all time, H.L. Mencken said:
Such esoteric knowledge is the exclusive possession of grammarians, whose pride in it runs in direct ratio to its inaccuracy, unimportance and imbecility. English grammar as a science thus takes its place with phrenology and the New Thought: the more a grammarian knows of it, the less he is worth listening to.
I think I’m probably the newest newbie here, with a grand old post count of ‘2’ so far. I’ve lurked for ages, but only paid the sign-up fee yesterday.
And…um. Hello. Nice to be here.
I’m too scared to talk to any of you, but it’s nice to be here!
Should we just deliver a food dish under the couch until such time as you’ve acclimated to the surroundings and determined that we’re not actually going to eat you?
Well, not yet anyway.