It's not as bad as it sounds. Even for as positive a place as Reddit is, you're still going to get many more stories of negative encounters than actually exist. Most of the time you'll be flying around in open alone depending on location, but there are times when you'll be joined by other Commanders.
Here are some tips from me personally as I fly around as a pirate somewhat near a starter system:
1. Don't be unnecessarily rude to people- even pirates. If a pirate asks you to stop, it is your choice whether you do so or not. However, whatever you choose do it respectfully.
2. Learn how to communicate. Be default, pressing '2' will focus your UI on chat. You can then use 'W' and 'S' to scroll through potential chat targets (they will say ship type until you target them and scan them for their name). You can then press space bar for some options. If you double-space, you can quickly select the text chat option and say something. If someone interdicts you and you don't say anything, it makes you seem less human to them like you're just an NPC, and often if you have good intentions but don't tell them about it, they may not know. Example: I've interdicted people sometimes where I tell them to drop cargo and they don't, but they don't try to evade, so without them saying anything I don't know if they simply don't know how to drop cargo or they're just biding their time until they can escape. I usually end up killing them.
3. If you're interdicted and you see orange (NPC) chatter saying something like "There's no escape!" well, it's an NPC. But if you don't see anything, it's a CMDR.
4. CMDR targets on your radar appear as an empty box instead of a filled box. (think a ring instead of a solid circle)
5. Make friends where you can. I suppose this is self-explanatory.
6. If interdicted, never deploy hardpoints right away unless it's IMMEDIATELY after you land in the instance and you don't think your interdictor has targeted you yet. When you are targeted, those targeting you will get a notification when you've deployed hardpoints (but not when you've retracted them). If you do this it is a sign of aggression.
7. Also, similar to #6, don't fire before your interdictor's intent is clearly understood. Often times I will scan someone who I come to find has no cargo and they open fire on me. Most of the time I open fire back and kill them. Sometimes I let them go even if they have opened fire. But the latter is more rare.
Sorry this is all I can think of but I'll post more if I think of any.
