A lot of people aren't for or against "the masses", but rather there are specific people, communities and topics that they want to follow, and they may follow them wherever they thrive.

Personally I'm not too convinced by this idea that "Lemmy is better because there aren't so many people in it". I look forward for it and Mastodon to grow. I'd rather if Meta doesn't get to be the main replacement for Twitter, but if there's where all the people I want to follow go, then I guess I'll have to go there too. At least the Fediverse integration might serve as a middle ground so people can follow Threads users without being beholden to Meta.