Maybe.

I tried the “old Reddit” Lemmy website today. The first thing it asks you for is a URL? What? I just loaded a URL!

I mean, I get it but it is not a great new user experience.

I also use Voyager which makes Lemmy look like Apollo ( the Reddit iOS app ). It is much smarter as it gives you read only content by default. You only get confronted to use a Lemmy server when you go to post. Before that, you can browse, read, and search without logging in or choosing a server. It is a vastly better introduction.

It'll ask for an instance and the user won't have a clue

I'm using jerboa and it's fine? Can see all the active threads in the Fediverse.