I am relatively new here, having embraced Lemmy after fleeing reddit in June. During my short tenure I have observed a change in culture and decline in politeness and respect for others. However, I think that some claims about the rise of toxic behavior are overstated.

In any event, it’s like a city growing from 500 people to 5,000, or from 50,000 people to 500,000. Of course the culture is going to be changed. Such growth is important to avoid stagnation and death by attrition, however. I think at this point Lemmy has achieved a critical mass where it is likely to continue growing. When people ask “how can we grow Lemmy faster or further”, though, I question whether that is really a good idea. Sites like reddit are somewhat too large, which is great for niche interests but fairly horrible for the most popular communities.