I joined reddit on the tailwind, so it was all echo chamber, we hate newcomers, gatekeeping, automod frenzy, too many rulebreakers, too many rules, etc I could be wrong, but thats what I imagine it used to be like.

  • @fsmacolyte
    1•10 months ago

    I think the fundamental question is, as the Fediverse gets more popular, then how will servers get paid for? Here are some possibilities I see for how Fediverse hosting could work at scale:

    • Surviving off donations alone: Possible but in my estimation unlikely, and it could veer into the territory of big donors having a controlling stake or exerting their interests.
    • Instances limiting number of users to what they can afford: This would require the network of instances process to really work well.
    • Big instances selling advertisements: Without oversight or moral commitment, this could easily go towards creepy personal data collection.
    • Crowdsourcing the costs: This would require transparency and fundraising or some other model
    • Hosts financing the operation in other ways: This could also easily get into creepy data collection practices or other dark patterns.

    I hope we come up with some process or plan for avoiding the pitfalls and forging an honest and community-integrating way forward.