This site is currently struggling to handle the amount of new users. I have already upgraded the server, but it will go down regardless if half of Reddit tries to join.
However Lemmy is federated software, meaning you can interact seamlessly with communities on other instances like beehaw.org or lemmy.one. The documentation explains in more detail how this works. Use the instance list to find one where you can register. Then use the Community Browser to find interesting communities. Paste the community url into the search field to follow it.
You can help other Reddit refugees by inviting them to the same Lemmy instance where you joined. This way we can spread the load across many different servers. And users with similar interests will end up together on the same instances. Others on the same instance can also automatically see posts from all the communities that you follow.
Edit: If you moderate a large subreddit, do not link your users directly to lemmy.ml in your announcements. That way the server will only go down sooner.
I believe the only way to get Lemmy working with every “refugees” is indeed to run organised instances. I’m thinking of a Circlejerk instance (yeah sorry, first example I had in mind) with all the jerk communities such as r/Watchescirclejerk, r/Carcirclejerk, etc… Could work for countries, car, music communities… I might be wrong though as I’m quite new to all of this.
No idea if you’re into it, but I’m working on running my own organized instance for popheads, think Taylor Swift, Camila Cabello, Lana Del Rey, there are dozens, if not hundreds of subs in that category that I think deserve their own instance. (Even SwiftieCircleJerk, which I love)
If you’re one of them, registrations are open on mine, https://poptalk.scrubbles.tech
Not knocking the original idea, but since this isn’t Reddit, I don’t think we need “circlejerk” communities until the communities here become large enough to have CJ style takes to lampoon. Otherwise they’d all be satirizing Reddit and since this isn’t Reddit, maybe that’s best avoided?
Could probably just be meme communities