Oh, for sure. But they also have to compete with each other if they want users, which has so-far prevented any form of advertising on public instances.

Plus, martyrdom seems to be par for the course if you're not willing to make a Facebook account. I'm perfectly content sitting opposite of Twitter, but your mileage may vary.

I meant the instance admins are martyrs because they're doing high-stakes moderation for free and they receive only abuse in return. Pitting instance admins in a race-to-the-bottom competition where they have no hope of ever being compensated is inhumane.

This is the main reason why I refuse to open my instance and make it donation-based. I'd rather pay to have an over provisioned server for my 5 active users than having to deal with entitled "supporters" who think that their donation would give them with the right to judge me for everything I say or do.