Found it mentioned as an alternative when Reddit announced their API changes.

Same here, though I technically never used lemmy - I started on kbin (kbin.social) and finally ended up hosting a single user pyfedi/piefed instance (piefed.social)

I liked that people could run their own instance and that it was not controlled by big tech.

Quit using Reddit for like a year after the API changes, then used it again for like a week primarily to search for an alternative (… Reddit sadly still is best for searching information), used both for a while before I stopped using it again, this time primarily because it’s overrun by bots and the first party app is absolutely awful and I still heavily dislike their API decisions.

Only Lemmy now :)

I’m also a huge open source fan

And the brain drain on Reddit is real.

Knowledge of lemmy was the last great gift that Reddit gave me before it finally completed its transformation to shit.

I hung on to Reddit longer than I should have, watching Steve Huffman be a greedy little pigboy. The API changes forced the closure of Baconreader, the app I had used for literally a decade of Reddit browsing. The UI was burnt into many of my phone screens, I used it so much. Once Baconreader was no more, so was Reddit. I was already following the alternatives discussions on Reddit and decided Lemmy was the place for me.

Ps. Steve Huffman is a greedy little pigboy.

reddit locking their api was the last straw for me. so i wanted to stand up a reddit clone to fill that hole for me and others.

surfin the githubs for federating platforms… lemmy was fugly, i started with kbin.

i ended up with an mbin instance so i could connect to mastodon as well as all the lemmy content/users.

From this particular Reddit post:

• Social websites with nested comments v7

I tested several from the list. So thank you to the kind poster (a Mod actually).

During the Reddit API stuff, same as most of the folks here. I tried kbin first but lack of an API or mobile app at the time pushed me to Lemmy instead.

I eventually caved and started using the official Reddit app, but I still check here as well - less content but I like the vibes here. Reddit hasn’t been the same since the protests - might just be bias but I feel like ‘brain drain’ was real and quality discussions over there are a little less frequent than before.

Reddit.

Reddit.

Reddit referred me to Lemmy just like Digg referred me to Reddit and Slashdot to Digg

Mental Outlaw. I tried it and then started to like it. My oldest account is on lemmy.world, but I stopped using LW just so other instances can get some activity as well. LW is getting too big too fast.

Found out about it from r/RedditAlternatives but had always been reluctant to sign up, after watching Voat and Ruqqus become right wing removeds.

The API controversy was what caused me and others to flock here.

I only started using Reddit regularly when I learned of the third party apps, so when they killed that, this is the thing all the other quitters were talking about.

Tried out a few apps and instances. It seemed very slow and quiet, but much nicer as far as the personalities. Was just a lurker at Reddit, so I had nothing to leave behind, so I stayed here.

It’s not quite as nice now as during the mass migration, but I’ve found a nice niche for myself here and I participate much more often than I ever would have at Reddit. There’s a decent audience now, but still enough room to find your own voice and to build the type of community you want.

I came over in the API exodus. Lemmy lacks niche content, so I went back to Reddit. I stick around here because I’m so used to Sync.