Well, my story isn’t particularly interesting, but I imagine it’s similar to many others’.
I used RIF. Reddit killed RIF. I wasn’t a fan of how they handled that at all, and it instantly soured me against the company. Also, their own app is terrible.
I browsed /r/RedditAlternatives for answers, and tried a few. Lemmy felt most like what I enjoyed about Reddit, and it wasn’t totally devoid of content. I figured out how instances worked, picked a random one, thinking I’d choose my favorite later, and started posting a comment here and there. I tried a bunch of apps, moved from Beehaw to lemmy.world, found communities that I liked, and… well here we are.
I’ll admit, I’ve visited Reddit a few times when Lemmy has felt stale, but mostly I’ve completely moved over without missing it. The vibe is much better, like early Reddit, despite having less content. I’ve felt compelled to contribute more often myself, which makes it more fun.