Great topic!
You have to understand that there are many types of people at AA/NA and all of them have certain levels of clout and respect in that room. There are not many differences that you will find in these meetings and say a Masonic Lodge or a Bingo Game. In these meetings you have a lot of "old timers" with a high chip # that usually run the show. Every meeting that I ever went to had one or two liars too amongst this group.
Then you have some that are having trouble putting two days together and another group that gets to 6-9 months and is habitually relapsing. Then there is usually a socioeconomical component to it as well.
These are not digs, just pointing out a typical makeup.
Anyways, MOST of these use this venue to speak about themselves and we all like to hear our own voice. What I'm trying to say is that newcomers get support but respect is often a little harder to come by. Most people take a few years in a twelve step program before they really "get it" so they value their distinction because of it.
While I think that all of that is great, it does make it intimidating at times for newcomers but it's something we have to go through.
I struggle through some social situations where I don't push myself to say what I need to because of fear of embarrassment or rejection and I always feel bad when I just shy away and stay quiet. This very problem I why son people keep using.
Now in the AA/NA setting there are some differing views. While some say a newcomer should just listen and keep coming back for a while, I feel that input from newcomers can be the lifeblood of the meeting. It reminds everyone about where they once were and the relapses, especially with someone with a big #, can alarm the group enough to start focusing none intensly what they themselves ate doing in their program.
For me, hearing input from anyone has value.