Is there any reason an instance couldn’t just copy Reddit’s model? (Advertising that’s hidden if you subscribe, paid awards, etc.)
The beauty of federation isn’t that we have a million instances. It’s that if there’s a problem with one instance (such as greed), we can just go to another. In effect it adds competition instead of walled gardens.
Even if there’s only a couple big instances that make up the majority of users it’s not really a problem as long as the federation option holds. It’s not the leaving that makes federation great, it’s the ability to leave.
Is there any reason an instance couldn’t just copy Reddit’s model? (Advertising that’s hidden if you subscribe, paid awards, etc.)
The beauty of federation isn’t that we have a million instances. It’s that if there’s a problem with one instance (such as greed), we can just go to another. In effect it adds competition instead of walled gardens.
Even if there’s only a couple big instances that make up the majority of users it’s not really a problem as long as the federation option holds. It’s not the leaving that makes federation great, it’s the ability to leave.