Exactly, and there’s honestly no need for them to have 100,000+ people in them either. 1,000 people goes a long way too. There’s a point of critical mass when you can have sustained discussions and there are enough upvotes to form a sensible feed by popularity in the community, and that critical mass isn’t that huge IMHO. There also often comes a moment when greater popularity is detrimental and worsens it.

I could also jump onto Lemmy almost right away as my most loved communities were already forming here. I think Lemmy has a better outlook than Mastodon in this regard because the community is waiting for you, rather than Mastodon is expecting you to form your circle, which can take a lot of effort in the midst of fediverse confusion.