Yet the folks at Reddit told me there's "no activity here"

I honestly think that there is more direct activity here. I asked the same question on reddit in 3 different places, but had more replies here than there.
- Less bots. Reddit is all bots now
  
  Dead Reddit theory Explains the popular subs' comments

Yeah, what the hell?
I was a prolific reddit commenter for over a decade and myailbox would be empty each day
I have 600+ comments waiting for me now iny Lemmy inbox. Something is different
- You were shadow banned most likely
- Because if you didn't post to small subs or be one of the first 20 or so comments on a big sub post, you'd get buried.
- 601 now >:)

I wonder if all the bot activity on reddit makes it look so busy that people are confused when they come somewhere with far fewer bots around?
I notice significantly more positive interaction with (at least what I believe to be) real humans here than I did on reddit in my last couple of years there.
- People always talk about wanting to grow Lemmy, but honestly I like it a lot more the way it is. You can comment on a post that's been on All for 6 hours and still get plenty of thoughtful responses. On reddit, there was so much noise - especially on major threads - that commenting was like pissing into the wind.
  
  I also choose this guy's comment!
  Now make people restating it 800 times half the thread. Switched a few weeks ago, and honestly the fact I have yet to see the words heckin or wholesome, nor the annoying as fuck story style of banal metaphor they think is relatable and super clever, sounding like a chimichanga doused in tabasco making its emergency 3AM exit be known, has all sold me. Reddit seems to be a bunch of people who think they're super unique and progressive as they salivate over Marvel movies and rehash the same 9 political talking points, 50 posts, and 4 philosophy quotes they don't understand ad infinitum. It is reddit without redditors, and doesn't feel like it is curated by the DNC's PR department. What's not to love?
  I think lemmy'd be ideal if it was double our triple its current size. Maybe just large enough to convince r/askhistorians to jump ship.
  
  The solution on that on Reddit has been, retreat into more niche communities, remove default subs from your feed. Right now the way to make Lemmy usable is to browse All, because otherwise there isn't enough content, but I bet as it grows it will go the same way.
  
  i can see the same thing, things that have been published for hours see steady activity, even some which are lively for a good few days, it feels less like flitting between a bunch of new things which is useful
- I've noticed the same. I've also noticed it become slightly more combative and strawman-y with the influx of new folx, but maybe getting better again lately? Anyway, this is just going by anecdotal/vibes, and it's definitely better than mainstream/commercial socials.
  
  I've also noticed it become slightly more combative and strawman-y with the influx of new folx, but maybe getting better again lately?
  I'd like to think it's because the mods here are a lot less likely to aid and abet that shit. I don't know if it is, but that's what I'd like to think.
- No wait... don't you see?
  The robots have already breached our defenses.
  You've seen what they've done to other websites!
  And worst of all, they could be any one of us...
  
  Are you one?
  I am 🤖BEEP🤖 definitely not one!
- Probably slightly controversial but I'm actually missing getting into arguments with strangers. I feel like I need some conflict in my life.
  
  On Reddit though, mostly what they offer is arguments with robots? 🤖😜

I feel like Lemmy has reached a critical mass of user base at some point in the last year.

The people who say there's no activity tend to be lurkers and they mean post activity not comments.
If you're on a big community that's usually not a problem but for the small ones it is. If you have a hobby, then chances are its biggest lemmy community still doesn't see enough new activity to feel alive.
- Funny I come here every day, and every day there are thousands of fresh posts.
  
  There is a noticeable lack of niche content though, so Redditors saying that aren't willing to see how the style of interactions on the Threadiverse is different.
- Only one way to start it. :)

I wish I could check a box "No notifications" when posting
- Piefed has an option to disable them
  
  Mbin does as well.
  
  Not only there, but the little bell icon next to... well... everything. i.e. not only at the time of posting, but at any time you can click, unclick, click again, etc.
  And you can do it for other people's content as well as your own.
  You can also do it for other people too, or for communities (both of those work best for low-volume entities, obviously:-P). Like poetry tends to get swamped out in Hot, and is still fairly rare in New, so the notifications is one way to make sure to receive all of them. Or posts for a community that you moderate, even if using an account on a different instance.
  PieFed is fantastic! 😍
  
  I need to use Piefed more.