this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2023
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UKCasual
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Yeah, I run a Mastodon instance for the my city. It only has double digits of active users but that suits me because it's not too expensive to run and I want to prioritse the user experience over growth for growth's sake. I'd like to do the same thing with this Lemmy instance.
I think it's one of the real strengths of the fediverse that you can be on a tiny, friendly instance and still play a part in a huge community.
I'm new to all this. Would you be able to explain the benefits of having your own instance? How does that work with regards to federations? Any info would be much appreciated ๐
I think the power of the fediverse is in there being more, smaller servers. It makes moderation easier and should scale better. It prevents one person or group getting control over the whole network.
The advantages of having your own server are about having control over the instance. I can choose which servers I do it don't federate with. Also I know my data isn't being misused. Plus, to be honest, I've got lots of experience running this sort of thing and I like the idea of offering the benefits of that to the community.
In my case I decided to base my Mastodon server and Lemmy server on my local area. I like the idea that the local timelines and local posts would be relevant for that geographic community.
Running your own server isn't for everyone though. It takes a certain amount of commitment and money. I get some donations - which are lovely - but I'm still basically funding it out of my own pocket.