"Dumb" is too strong a word for the way the questions were worded. I know some users here are on Tildes as well, or Squabble (idk if that's how you spell it). Doesn't mean lemmy is THE alternative - just one of many minor ones. Also, being on lemmy doesn't mean you're not thinking of moving away specially with Meta's arrival.
I'm looking for Reddit alternatives and so far Lemmy does a fairly decent job.
I'm hoping to recapture the old Reddit feel where there was enough content but not so many users where everything just turned into drama or a flame war in the comment section. So far Lemmy seems fairly slow with content but that's probably a good thing for me, I shouldn't be using this stuff to fill my time as much.
I'm still getting a feel for how all of this works together, so I haven't bothered blocking any communities yet. Were you just seeing those while browsing Local/All? I tend to stick to Subscribed unless I'm going adventuring for new stuff.