I think it's less filtered and can definitely be more abrasive. Partly because like another user said, many ended up here because they are jaded from years of enshittifying platforms. So you have a lot more cynicism, and a lot less filtering.

There is good and bad to that. If you take anything too seriously you can definitely get your feelings hurt by it. And if you want genuine thoughtful and amicable discussion, that's much easier to find here than some other places.

Some sub communities and some instances have more provocateurs or agenda shills or (the ones that confuse me the most) people who expect you to not interact with them and their comments because you don't align with their world view (They won't block you, they just send some weird cryptic passive aggressive nonsense about not talking to them. I don't really get why they think that's a good solution.)

There are a lot of VERY informed and intelligent people on here though. I've had some great explanations from people on things I didn't understand and wanted to ask questions to. Along with those great discussions I'd sometimes get some insulting mouth breather chiming in. Ask .ml users an honest question regarding their thoughts or opinions on something and it's 50/50 on whether they hold a discussion or turn into a dipshit shrieker. I've had both lol.

Which communities and instances you are around will have major impacts on your experiences with Lemmy though. You'll see many users around multiple places and will get a feel for how they are and who they are. Community hop through the lemmyverse and I'm sure you'll start finding things that work better for you.

Sorry that was waaaay more than I intended on saying when I hit reply. It's a good place, just has some weird lumps and rough edges.