So I've switched to lemmy since the reddit meltdown started, experienced quite some withdrawal symptoms, occasionally turned back to reddit, more often logged out than logged in. Now I am merely using Lemmy occasionally and by far not as often as I used reddit before. No more doom scrolling.
So far so good.
Today I went on reddit for the first time in like 3 weeks straight (I couldn't do that for the last years... yeah, I was very addicted in hindsight). I just... I don't know what it is.
Reddit just isn't fun anymore.
I turned away after maybe 5 minutes. There were maybe 2-3 repost-worthy pics, one interesting video and a few small niche discussions that all went straight tits up within a few replies.
If I ask a question on lemmy, it usually is a straightforward, honest discussion. Almost no blaming of the posters or answerers misunderstandings or senseless answers. It goes a bit back and forth usually and people tend to thank each other for corrections.
I can't remember when that happened on a reddit discussion. Maybe years back? Anyway, I'm not going back there anymore, not because I hate the CEO, but because reddit is not fun anymore. Lost all interest in it.
Did anyone of you have a similar experience?
Honestly, the main reason is no fun anymore is the lack of a decent app (I loved BaconReader - YMMV). Since the UX has been downgraded severely (most have lost their preferred app), the user base, community and content have suffered.
I'd have been content to pay a reasonable subscription fee to keep using BaconReader. I'd even pay for ad removal - I'm not after a free ride. However, an enjoyable ride is now unavailable be it free or paid.
So, here's Lemmy. I hope it works out long term, but the growing pains associated with scaling are not to be underestimated. I suspect the challenges will be less technical in nature than in user wrangling and moderation. (though running the tech ops mustn't be underestimated).
TLDR - Yes.
Red Reader is pretty good. I moved to it from Bacon Reader years ago.