Right now the user count Lemmys is comparatively tiny when held up against reddit - but the user count isn’t the thing that makes a social media site, it’s the engagement
So even if you’re used to lurking, try to get a little more active! Post memes, vote on posts, talk in the comments, whatever!
If people come here and see activity, content, and discussions, they’re more likely to stay and contribute their own - if they come and see a ghost town, they’ll just go back to reddit
I’m on Jerboa right now. It’s minimal and not particularly attractive, but all the necessary features are here.
It’s clearly a passion project for a very small number of developers. I haven’t seen any evidence of monetization but I’ll happily give these folks a few bucks when I can. I paid for RiF and got a solid decade out of that.