I don't think people are realising the danger the Fediverse is in.
The only thing stopping corporations and VCs taking over this place is that the Fediverse is spread out on many different servers, which makes it very difficult to purchase.
If most of the Fediverse ends up on mastodon.social, which is now a strong possibility, there will be nothing to stop most of it being sold to Musk or Zuckerberg or whoever.
The bigger mastodon.social becomes, the more likely a buyout is to happen.
(1/4)
But you might be missing the value proposition for that theoretical buyer.
They wouldn't buy the instance without some value that makes the purchase worthwhile to them, and the ability for users to move to other instances should they provide a poor experience after the purchase is yet more reason that they wouldn't make the purchase for bad reasons.
On the other hand, if a VC buys a major instance and provides a better experience for users, well more power to them!
A purchase is not necessarily a bad thing.
A purchase can also provide resources and leadership that can work for users too.
