I wouldn’t call them irrelevant, but after they de-federated from the two other biggest mainstream general instances, they are (for now) irrelevant to a huge number of Lemmy users. So even if you can post there, a huge number of users can’t reply

If you want to see Lemmy as one large network, Beehaw have broken them selves off from a large part of that network. Of course Lemmy isn’t really just one big network, but also many small networks, like extremist instances that are already de-federated from mainstream instances.

Beehaw has explicitly set out to create a safe space for their users. This is not necessarily compatible with a more wild-west approach of open signups. Their 4 admins/moderator were simply swamped by bad actors from sh.itjust.works and Lemmy.world, so for now they de-federated pending better moderation tools

Of course it’s well within their right to do so, but as an outsider I’m now much more wary of building anything in their walled garden, in case they decide to close it off further