I'm fairly new and don't 100% understand it yet, but instances are run on servers that require money. Are we heading towards seeing ads or subscriptions to raise funds instead of relying on donations to cover overhead?
Especially with the influx of new users. Hardware upgrades are needed.
Nope, no way I'm going back. However, I'm still fairly new so I haven't really "researched" which instances I should be joining. Except for lemmynsfw...for obvious reasons. LOL
The problem they’re seeing with Mastodon is all of the communities that are vowing to never federate with their instance because you just know it’s going to turn into EEE.
I think most people are assuming we'll have the ability to fend off anything. All it's going to take is Zuck creating a new fediverse-enabled platform and just giving everyone with an Instagram account access using their already existing accounts. We'll be outnumbered by the millions.
This is a big part of the shift in mentality that needs to happen. Something doesn't have to be the biggest to be better. We don't need millions of concurrent users per server to enjoy connecting with other people and sharing ideas and art.
Like, a local cafe doesn't need to beat the profit margins of a Starbucks, it just needs to make ends meet. And it's probably a lot better experience in the process.