It's probably obvious to most of you, but a big difference between the commercial social media platforms and the fediverse is that as those commercial platform grow, they get additional revenue from ads, from selling personal information, and otherwise monetizing their users. While that is turning out to not actually pay the bills for them, in the fediverse, just about every instance is run by volunteers and funded by donations or out of the volunteers' pockets. It's a labor of love and a hope for a better future. When traffic grows, we need to expand our capacity.

That is why I am asking, if you are able, please consider donating to the instance you on to help keep the fediverse ecosystem going. Typically the /about web page will have details on how to donate.

Note: I am well aware that many of you are not in a financial position to donate - and that is OK. We are here to serve you as well. Donations are completely optional.

@jerry what kinds of costs go into maintaining an instance? As more and more people join how much does the cost increase? Is there a specific viewable number that (with current usage this month would need x donations)?

I apologize if this is sensitive data that shouldn't be shared. I am genuinely curious.

@Armetron @jerry

This is the latest quarterly report for SFBA.social. It has details and available through a community hub found on the about page.

https://hub.sfba.social/2023/04/15/transparency-report-march-2023/

Transparency Report (March 2023) – SFBA COMMUNITY HUB

@Armetron @jerry

Also, even more details about #Mastondon as incorporated in Germany: https://joinmastodon.org/reports/Mastodon%20Annual%20Report%202021.pdf

I couldn't find a 2022 Mastodon Annual Report.

Found the above through this more explanatory article about making the #Fediverse sustainable: https://techpolicy.press/priorities-to-make-the-fediverse-sustainable/

I'm really glad to see more admins raise attention to funding.