Well, I've only been here for three months, so I'm no expert, but I've seen everypony is really kind at the forums, so you can engage in conversations in every part of the forums. You can reply to any mention you find interesting and start a conversation/discussion. If your talk gets too long and you think it would be better to continue via private messages, then you can do so.
Personally, I like to check the What are you thinking topic, so I can know better what do we have in common beyond our love for ponies.
I have another advice, It's just a QoL tip, but it completelly changed my experience on the forums since I like to wander around here at night: The MLPF+ by Rikifive. It lets you use the Luna theme . It's basically a custom dark mode (custom dark theme = Luna. Custom bright theme = Celestia) for the forums, really beautiful imo. Basically you need to download an extension and copy a code (as shown in the tutorial). It's optional, but really cool tho.
BTW, Welcome to the forums Cuddles , I hope you have a fun with us, and remember, you can always PM anypony, they'll probably be happy to help you or chat with you.