The stuff about Reddit dying and Lemmy not working is hopefully just popping off because it's at the front of our minds. Most of us are brand new here, most of us came from Reddit, and every new bit of drama (landed gentry, etc.) has a weird personal element associated. Fingers crossed that the dust settles.
And I don't really even understand what people mean when they say Lemmy "won't work." What is that even supposed to mean? I'm typing to you lot right now. I've been making [kinda] friends since I arrived. I'm learning a new way to engage with online communities. Feels like it's working to me.
I'm sure what they really mean is that Lemmy won't replace Reddit. So? The intense desire to brute force Lemmy, Kbin, Tildes, Squabbles, etc. into Reddit #2 makes me feel tired.
The internet is big, and it can have more than one website on it. What is the urgency to replicate Reddit here or anywhere else? Folks are talking about this whole thing like it's some competition that somebody needs to win, which I cannot relate to at all.