Heigh-ho, welcome to Beehaw!
Do you have any recommendations for a newbie at Beehaw to make the most of my experience here?
Comments invite comments. If there's a post you see that is interesting but has no comments, if you make one it is much more likely to bring in others to discuss.
Are there any non-obvious Communities I should join? I’m looking for friends and fun. Where do?
Really depends on your interests. Unless you don't play games at all, I'd recommend the Gaming community as one of the most active interest-based communities.
Beehaw feels a little lonely. Not a lot of activity.
I think that for some of us, Beehaw is a nice quiet respite from the "loudness" elsewhere on the net, especially as many of us are refugees from Reddit. Speaking only for myself, over the years I've killed my Facebook and Twitter accounts, and only maintain a private Instagram for a few family and friends. Beehaw is somewhere I lurk daily, and it doesn't feel like I'm being inundated with "content" like I was on Reddit or Imgur.
I sort of think of it like a 'home base', that I can come back to to relax after foraying out into the broader and 'wilder' social media and news worlds.