I tend to flip through the forums as well. I get my online kink discussion primarily through LJ - with my Flist I get a pretty diverse overall discussion. Over the next year I'll read them a bit more intently, but I'll probably not comment much. Maybe.

The best way to get over newbie status is to go out and meet people. It's scary as all hell, but it's worth doing. There are always people more experienced that you, but there are always people less as well. ;-)

And what about your "oddball status" makes you unworthy of commenting?