I think the confusion arises when people try to optimize maximum usage of "Lemmy" instead of just hearing someone say "hey join midwest.social it's fun, I'll see you there", and then they say "ok" and signup and use it as-is, like the old forum days. Don't even need to use the word "Lemmy".

They probably weren't optimally using Reddit to its fullest potential, yet they won't even dip their toe into Lemmy until they have a perfectly optimal gameplan of maximizing their usage of Lemmy better than anyone ever has before. Just jump in! You don't have to be perfect, just click around and upvote and leave comments.