I am theoretically switching over from Reddit to Lemmy. Finding myself spending more time on Lemmy than on Reddit. Maybe it’s because I am limited to using the desktop and can’t aimlessly browse Reddit on my iPhone. Of late, the only subreddits I cared for were on sports and their matchday threads and r/watches. I found myself aimlessly browsing through r/AskReddit and asking and answering pointless questions.
The challenge is that Reddit isn’t just one community, it’s a collection of lots of communities.
For stuff like random tech news and commentary, I’m already 100% happy with Lemmy. You don’t need a huge community for people to post reviews of the latest gadgets and discuss them.
While I’m still boycotting Reddit, what I miss the most is some of the smaller communities, the ones that are only possible when you have millions of total users. Stuff like hyperlocal subreddits (there’s not just one for my city, there’s one for my NEIGHBORHOOD within my city), subreddits specifically for every one of my favorite TV shows, authors, and musicians, and subreddits for more niche topics I’m into like music theory or 3-D printing.
I’m trying to spend time on Lemmy hoping to build up the critical mass there. I’m starting with more mainstream topics that are likely to grow and attract a following, but what I’m really hoping for are the more niche ones.