I know other instances have grown a lot due to media attention, reddit making silly decisions or banning communities. Did anything similar happen or is this just a thing that thinged?
Edit: having a closer look, some of the names I thought were new are people who’ve had accounts for years but have mostly been posting to other instances so I didn’t see them. So maybe I’m only seeing them on higher-scoring local posts
Are donations still meeting costs? You say not monetising, but it shouldnt be a charity.
Costs aren’t actually that high when the nerd labour is free. Hosting costs were around $200/mo last time I looked. It’s really a @[email protected] question, though.
I’m travelling for work again… and will be again quite a bit in the near future. When I’m home and have some time, I’ll answer this properly.
Short version: I’m paying the bulk of costs out of my own pocket at the moment. The bulk of once off donations were used up a few months back. A few monthly supporters offset it a little. I’ll figure out the numbers and share when I can.