Is it better if we have another site host images/videos to lessen server load?
Hey I'm not really a tech-savvy person yet but I was wondering if it's better for server load to upload an image to Imgur or another image/video-hosting site first and then place the link in a post instead of directly uploading to Lemmy?
I want to contribute content-wise but I also want servers to stay up and not be overloaded. What would be best you think?
I think most new instances will start as a VPS, some already upgraded to dedicated servers. But storage is, even in these days, costly when it's actively used storage. How hotter the storage tier, the more it will cost the server owner.
Communities like which share memes and stuff often have an enormous amount of posts, which are viewed frequently. Many small images consume a lot of storage in the end, especially since the content will not be deleted.
If you make your instance open, like most, then people can create communities as much as they want, with content that they want. So you don't have much influence on how many content is being stored on your instance.