EDIT: we just crossed 30K 🥳
We are now at 28.5K users (see https://lemmy.fediverse.observer/list). The top 10 instances also got a decent boost in user count. With the exception of beehaw.org which defederated, the Fediverse is thriving 🔥
this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2023
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@AlmightySnoo fediverse is supposed to scale with more servers, not bigger servers
Rather, more instances, not servers. An instance can scale out using as many servers as the owner can tolerate.
I certainly wouldn’t want to be the one managing a horizontally scaled fediverse instance on a cloud platform though, that shit adds up fast, and no way in hell is anyone going to donate here.
I honestly don’t get how that’s supposed to work indefinitely, that’s usually where ad money comes in and… god dammit we’re back to square one lol. I’m here for a good time, not a long time 😎
People actually do donate here! Check it out :) https://www.buymeacoffee.com/kbin
@corytheboyd By "more servers" I mean "more instances".
I figured, just saw my chance and shot my shot for the passers by
@corytheboyd Other fedi projects changed their public terminology to use "servers" instead of "instances", which is why I said "more servers".
Noted, thanks. Honestly, in conversation I use server and instance interchangeably anyway, so I mooted my own point lol
I definitely think that ads will start appearing on the bigger instances especially since the overhead will most likely outpace donations. I could also see a lot of super small instances pop up just for people to host for their friends. I'm thinking about creating an instance just for me and a few friends but I'll definitely have to deviate from my standard Reddiy username, can't let that cat out of the bag.
I've said it before, but I really think that "Reddit Gold" was an excellent non-invasive monetization strategy.
Gold didn't really do much but put a little coin above a comment, and it supported the site for a long time without having to pump in advertising, which many people would block anyway.
I gilded a total of 3 times maybe, over the years. And that $12 or whatever was way more than Reddit ever got out of me from ads, since I block them all.
I'm new here but if I stick around long enough I'll probably get up my own server/instance(s) for the various parts of the fediverse I participle in. Mostly because it sounds neat and partially because it would allow other people I know to have a fediverse "home" operated by a familiar face (if the fediverse gets popular among the mainstream).
Right now it's just Lemmy, but I may eventually participate in Mastodon, Matrix, Peertube, Owncast and.
I'm going to wait first though to see if the Lemmy userbase (and platform) remains healthy and/or grows. Then would come the hard part of setup, I'm familiar with technology, but nowhere near a professional or a hobbyist (unless you count gaming).
I set up our instance at Lemmy.pro for pretty much those same reasons, just to contribute in some way (I read messaging at Lemmy.ml when I first came around that adding instances helped) and make a space I could control my own account from.
We need a charity running this, like Wikipedia or Internet archive.
@econpol @corytheboyd i wonder what makes anybody think nobody will donate, quite a few fedi servers manage to survive off of donations
i think a couple of fedi servers are semi-private with paid accounts on a subscription basis, too
Mostly the pessimist in me talking about the general case. Getting many people to pay for something that is free somewhere else is an uphill battle.
When the service is good enough, I don’t at all mind throwing in ~$5/month. Example services like that I pay for: Fastmail, Bitwarden, Mullvad
Doesn’t mean it can’t work, and success is much easier at small scale (like you said, paid private).
There is nothing wrong with having ads on a server. A server / instance should monetize itself like crazy if they want to. If users don't like it, they now have options! They're not stuck in a place like reddit.
That's why I'm so excited by federation.
There will be both. I think many will appreciate the simplicity of large instances.
I'm betting that is going to occur with growing out communities. They will probably have disagreement with admin then move or just want a more focused community that people can click local & get what they want.
We have to see people show up, learn, and start to enjoy it. A big instance has some perks for the time being and everyone might want to see its sticking power before dealing with headache of running their own instance.