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)

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

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.

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

I read about and liked the concept of the Fediverse, opened a few accounts across various platforms, quickly got bored with the small userbase. Then reddit did their thing with the API, I wanted to stop using it entirely, and enough people also migrated to Lemmy at the same time that this is now a level of users and activity to hold my interest.

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 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.

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.