where did you know about lemmy and why did you start using it

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.

Reddit.

Reddit.

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.

When Reddit shut down 3rd party apps. I only used Joey for a single reason, it autohides post after scrolling past them very well, it was the only way reddit is tolerable is by only seeing a post once. Now I use Connect which has a similar autohide feature and I am enjoying Lemmy a lot more than i ever did reddit.

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.

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.

Reddit APIcalypse. Downloaded Jerboa and came to World after I saw a post in the middle of it.

During the api debacle I just looked on alternativeto.net and found lemmy. I didn't want to switch at the time, so I just used both until Relay stopped working and then I just used lemmy.

Created my account 3 years ago so I could still access one of the piracy subs in case they were banned from reddit, they used to have an alt community on lemmy.ml......

I came over properly during the reddit blackout, set up the communities I most wanted to see over here (that didn't exist already), and have stayed ever since

I like the fact that the posts have (generally) sensible comments, without 1000 replies of inane drivel to sift through, overall it feels like a nice quiet corner of the internet where I can recognise usernames and have a brief chat, then be on my way

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.

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.

Reddit. Came here in the API to exodus and never went back. I use my phone less too.

Reddit, both questions. Jumped ship the day the API died.

First heard about it on r/dndmemes during the API shit storm. I stick around because it's so much nicer. Smaller, yes, but easier to curate I guess? I read about my specific interests and just vibe.

Minutes before the reddit API pricing changes being announced, i started testing 3 party reddit apps because the official one was terrible

While testing, i found a post about the reddit changes but ignored it

I ended up using boost for reddit.

During the community strikes, i rarely opened reddit to check one of the subreddits about the protests

I found out about lemmy from the announcement of he creator of boost for reddit making boost for lemmy

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

When it was a bit too much with all the enshittification and bots on Reddit, I wanted alternatives. Lemmy was a suggestion, and I've had a good experience thus far.

Reddit API fiasco. Practical issue since I didn't want to use Reddit's shitty app for my phone browsing and it was just the writing on the walls.

I heard more and more about it in the time between reddit announcing their API changes and the actual last day RIF was usable unmodded. Then RIF suggested lemmy.world, but so many people were signing up that the page wouldn't load right, and I went in search of another instance. I signed up with both slrpnk.net and midwest.social and have been here ever since.

I've been keeping track of free and open source software and federated social media. Discovered Lemmy quite a while before the Spez/Reddit thing happened. But I only really started using it then, as it exploded practically over night and became usable to talk to more than just a dozen people or so.

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 actually heard of Tildes first on reddit, so I tried to get a signup invite but couldn’t. I think I eventually saw Lemmy mentioned and saw how the signup process was easier.

New to social media, I just Googled "social media websites" and "new social media websites" and Lemmy was on one of the lists! 😃

I had been keeping an eye on Lemmy for years and years. I'm an open source, federated service enthusiast so Lemmy was always just something I was aware of.

Banned from Reddit for suggesting that certain cult members should in fact drink the flavor aide.

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.

Jacob from TechLinked mentioned it in a video.

Before the whole API fiasco, reddit was down a whole bunch, and old reddit plus 3rd party apps were taking significantly longer to recover than the new interface. I'd already been noticing the quality of posts going downhill and the number of plagiarizing bots and shirt sellers going up.

One time it was down, I searched up Reddit alternatives and found Lemmy. I had previously heard tidbits of the Fediverse (like Mastodon and Friendica) which sounded like something up my alley, but the Twitter/Facebook style didn't fit my vibe. So when I discovered this Reddit alternative that seemed appealing. I looked around for a good server to join and I made an account, coincidentally on my 6-year Reddit cake day. I was in a transition period away from Reddit between March to July 2023 since there wasn't too much content on Lemmy really until June, but I tried to contribute a handful of local posts and news to my communities. In June I posted a handful of comments trying to help people migrate to Lemmy. It was a little difficult to leave, but I edited my top 20 comments plus a handful of other niche answers saying I left for lemmy, put a goodbye self-post and swore to myself I would not post or comment on Reddit again.

So far I've stuck to this pledge. Still I sometimes wonder if I should post an FAQ to help more people, but I'll leave that to other people and Redditors can find us at their leisure.

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

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

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

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

I used Reddit app, they closed all Reddit apps so I searched what was next.

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).

On Reddit. Used it because of how shit Reddit became. Couldn't use Infinity for reddit and Spez was removing moderators for protesting.

I actually prefer Mbin, but I found out about the Fediverse after searching for reddit alternatives when I heard about the API bullshit Sp*z was planning.

Don't remember the exact date now but I believe I learned about Lemmy either slightly before or during the first wave of Twitter/Mastodon migration... I was trying to find Reddit alternatives, and quickly realized that the only option is a thing that is run by Tankies where the most popular posts only gathered fewer than 100 upvotes each

... anyway the statement did not age well. I've been lurking on Lemmy for the past year but haven't really registered an account so

I'd been on the microblogging side of Fedi for a while and was aware there was a federated reddit-like, but my initial impression of it was that it's a long way from getting enough of a userbase to sustain the kind of niche hobby/fandom communities I used reddit for.

But once reddit's API scandal happened, I dropped it and decided to check out the alternative. Still feel like it isn't really there yet, but eh, I'm here anyway 'cause I'm not going back.

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

Heard about Lemmy from Mastodon and I found out about that from Hackernews.