Reddit is not the same. I’ve been lurking and the site just seems weird. Like the demographics of the users has changed, or maybe the promotion algorithm is different. It’s just weird now, lots of celebrity worship (there are no fewer than three active subs dedicated to the girl from Stranger Things). A lot of the old popular subs have new mods and new culture to go along. It still seems dominated by the political left, but still more conservative than Lemmy: you’ll see plenty of chud content if you keep scrolling.
It’s still a great resource for niche interests, and the userbase is huge, but not welcoming to a person like me otherwise.