Access to some really great knowledge combined with a friendly community .. I think of subreddits like Picopresso and Selfhosting among many others

I'm not sure how all this federated stuff works. I just want to browse absolute rubbish and hope I learn something in the meantime.

I was mostly a lurker on reddit for a long time but got into some of the hobby subreddits and support groups over covid and started talking more. I stopped doomscrooling so much and focused more on the communities in the individual subs. So now I am here and looking to do the same. Support and community are what I am looking for I guess. And to share my interests with others.

Most Google search involves the "Reddit" keyword, it's really getting in my way now that most subs are private! One of the reasons why I don't like the "delete all your own comments" thing people seem to be doing

Definitely number 3. I completely agree that Reddit was great for the niche stuff.

I mean, if not for Reddit, I wouldn't have organised multiple hiking and backpacking trips, sticking up propaganda posters about kayaking.

I highly valued the discovery of niche communities. Like solo ttrpgs as my current hyper fixation. I always lurked on reddit so I hope to be more involved here. And of course memes.

It was a huge source of troubleshooting and solving really niche problems. Lots of people know about appending site: reddit to Google searches as a result.

I used reddit for news, socializing, and discussion/debate. along with niche hobbies/interests. I'm not sure how much the fediverse stuff can replace that lol. we'll see.

Cats and news

I learned how to fix so much stuff around the house and picked up ideas for my home automation hobby. And the photos of swimming pools were nice :)

It's the niche stuff that made Reddit useful. For example, Amazon reviews are no longer trustworthy, but there were really good recommendations in reddit threads about which devices or products worked. The DIY subreddits were incredibly helpful. I got good recommendations for motorcycle tires and ultralight backpacking gear and Android apps and hotels in particular destinations from reddit. I got walkthroughs on how to set up a Plex server or do a particular project with a Raspberry Pi on reddit. With so many subs, there was almost always a thread for what I was looking for. That was the value. I expect it will take a while to rebuild that elsewhere, but I'm sure it will be recreated.

Community/togetherness -- Since leaving Reddit, I feel more 'lonely'? Being here definitely scratches the social-itch.
Positivity -- Wholesome people and productive conversations.
Humour -- Some of the comments/posts on Reddit were wonderfully dry and/or edgy. One that made me giggle recently: "Avoid being misgendered at checkout by not paying :)"
News -- Following centrist/neutral subreddits, and r/outoftheloop was great too.
Niche interests -- As said in OP!

I think the only issue we may have is niche interests -- the other points are not contingent on 'size'. Loving what's here so far <3

"A way to burn time that doesn't feel like a digital sugar rush" - well said, that was definitely one of the main reasons I used it habitually. In my experience, reddit had a fairly unique balance of being able to facilitate both serious and silly content.

Definitely want to continue the game threads for NBA/NFL games. It's really fun to have a small community of people you can shit talk with especially when they aren't around in person

Getting new ideas for some hobby's, like 3d printing, photography etc. Also helping people that are new to those when they have issues. Also memes and funny catvideos.

Discussions on varied topics and community insights on things are what I really love(d) about Reddit.

So many things. All the baking and cooking subs for inspiration and advice, my country's sub for daily banter (made plenty of IRL friends through that) and all the subs dealing with people and relationships (relationship_advice) to see what people from all walks of life are struggling with.

1. Get a view of world news that does not fit into traditional spheres and biases from unanticipated (by me) categories of importance.
2. Keep track of hobby-like subs (Magazines here?)
3. Community, which drives the above two.

#3

To find people with shared interest, to find niches.

And the community of the random thread r/chile

And the autism subs tbh.

Plenty of camaraderie, suggestions and wild discussions on /r/HPFanfiction

To fill the empty hours by collecting sweet, sweet internet points.

For me it was always about information. I like learning new things and having access to current events, facts, documentaries, feedback, insights as well as learning resources. Im completely lost here. I subscribed to communities, but I have no idea what else Im missing from other instances.

Solutions to weird and oddly specific problems. If you go looking for a solution to a really weird, seemingly one-off issue with Windows, good luck finding an answer in any Microsoft forum. Put "Reddit" at the end of your search, and you'll find something helpful more often than not.

Also, shitposting. 4Chan and Weekendgunnit levels of shitposting.

I loved the new Reddit UI, I should not have to click images to enlarge them. Really hope Lemmy gets something similar.

The random really cool people that show up in the comments

I mostly lurked on Reddit, but #3 was pretty big for me. If I needed to ask a highly specific question and get an answer from a real human, there wasn't really any other option. Until now, hopefully.