I mod a few subs for a niche hobby -- there's probably a few tens of thousands of us in the US. The majority of us are not especially technically inclined, and the only other place where the community regularly gathers online is Facebook Groups, which many of us want nothing to do with anymore.
I long ago largely stopped using reddit outside of the subs I mod, except browsing the front page briefly, or getting an answer from an internet search.
Tbc, reddit as a platform means nothing to me, and I'll happily move to another site. But, for the time being, this is where the community is, and this is where we're able to share information, some of which is safety-critical. I see the time I spend trying to keep the subs I mod welcoming and mostly free from hostility as a way to give back to the community.
I'm in the process of setting up a Lemmy server and plan to host similar forums there, but I intend to continue using reddit for at least as long as it's a primary gathering place for our community.