Title basically. I was here at the very start of it all and really enjoyed it. However I felt it lost its uniqueness within a few months of mass migration and started turning a bit like reddit again so I deleted my old account. However Reddit has only gotten much much worse since, and Lemmy has stayed about the same. So here again.
Population seems to have increased and become more diverse. There’s always communities being created. It’s not recognised as a desirable platform for businesses or influencers yet so upvotes aren’t treated anywhere near as divine, but you still see some users with remnants of Reddit; massive psychological damage if they’re downvoted. I mean, makes sense, people generally use social media to feel validated about their opinions. When it comes to comparing with Reddit, Lemmy has no monetised awards or such, bots are mostly rudimentary and live on a couple communities, and there’s little toxicity, harassment etc. because the user has complete control over blocking anything and instance admins have complete control over banning and defederating. I think being able to close some doors is preferable to being wide open to all, and I don’t think it causes any “echo chambers”.
Overall, definite improvement over the years.