It is a subconscious level ad for the utility/value of the platform. You don’t need to be overt about the screenshot containing Lemmy by name. Any subtle details are all that is needed. This is all it takes to attract the most valuable people; simply show them that they are missing out on something useful. It is effective psy ops.
There are less than a couple dozen posts an hour in the all feed for several hours a day now. There were many posts 6 months ago that would top 1k votes in 6 hours. Up until around February the top post in any 6 hour stretch of the all feed would top 700-800 votes. Over the last month there are many times that dips below 300-400. There are many times when there are less that 20 votes on any post within an hour at what should be peak US times. This is decreasing slowly and it has been this way for a long time.
Also, note that last weekend was a long weekend off in Europe, maybe that influenced it
Interesting
But what if we like it better this way?
Aside from one or two people that frequently posted in niche subs, and the legends like Sprog, everyone on Reddit felt like a stranger I was meeting for the first time.
Sure, more posts are nice, but in exchange for an endless supply of bullshit to occupy my brain, I’m seeing posts and comments from people I recognize and remember and I feel more “at home” and less like a visiting consumer.
There is always a turn over rate. Without an advertising mechanism, it is a slow death.