Lightning is not the same as segwit2x. Lightning does not need segwit2x to happen, it only needs segwit which has already activated.
This should be hammered in the newbies' heads. There is a lot of misinformation going around that Segwit2x is a mandatory hard fork. Another piece of information that newbies should know is Segwit2x does not include replay protection. I am sure many users will lose their Bitcoins because they either did not know what is going on, or because they did not take the time to read about the "situation" on November.
I agree with this. The prospect of uninformed users losing their BTC because of the lack of replay protection is very real. A strong communications campaign needs to take place to inform users, in plain and simple terms, about this fork, the reason that S2x should not be implemented in core, the fact that Lightning can already be implemented because of SegWit activation, and the dangers of failing to take appropriate steps to protect value stored on the blockchain in the event that this fork does in fact occur.
Well written information should be made available on all the major forums and websites, industry news sites either with articles or interviews with informed people that can explain it in simple terms for a wide and largely nontechnical audience, etc.
