reddit was "the digg alternative" when digg fucked up.

Reddit did not invent the link aggregator or broad umbrella discussion forum platform. The latter arguably goes back all the way to Usenet, before even the web was a thing. While lemmy seems a bit too heavily modeled after Reddit specifically for my tastes, there is no reason why it cannot grow into is open thing with time. Reddit has no monopoly on any of the major concepts.

It's only the "alternative" until it suddenly isn't. If Reddit truly isn't profitable then it will die faster than we all thought possible.

I think "Reddit Alternative" can be thought of in two ways.

It can be like saying Pepsi is a Coke alternative. Or it can be like saying soy milk is an alternative to cow's milk.

Lemmy is the soy milk alternative to Reddit's cow's milk, but I feel like a lot of people are promoting it like it's the Pepsi to Reddit's Coke.