Right now the user count Lemmys is comparatively tiny when held up against reddit - but the user count isn’t the thing that makes a social media site, it’s the engagement
So even if you’re used to lurking, try to get a little more active! Post memes, vote on posts, talk in the comments, whatever!
If people come here and see activity, content, and discussions, they’re more likely to stay and contribute their own - if they come and see a ghost town, they’ll just go back to reddit
Seems to me it makes sense to go ahead and create it. There’s no reason the mods on Reddit should necessarily be the mods anywhere else. They don’t own the subject under discussion, after all. They just happened to be the ones to start a subreddit or get invited to moderate by others.
There’s a real opportunity in being able to create your own community here. If there were problems or issues with a subreddit, whether it be mod problems, rule issues, general tone of the sub, etc, this is a chance to change that and make it right.