Having an open community without any posts in the last few months gives a potential new joiner the impression that the platform is just empty. Multiply that by the number of communities they encounter which are in a similar stage and they just leave to never come back.
On the other hand, seeing a locked community with "community locked for now, here's an active alternative" points the potential new joiner to the active community, which shows them that this place indeed has some activity.
Wait, really? Lemmy drama gets posted to Tumblr?
Have you considered locking it down until we get more users?
That makes sense
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Feral Pigeons and a Feisty Fox Take Top Honors in the 2025 British Wildlife Photography Awards
(www.thisiscolossal.com)
Normal ask communities I would say. You can maybe even reuse this post content