A library is paid though.

Donate to your instance, and decentralize the Fediverse.

1. Of course, people should donate to make Lemmy sustainable.
2. I recognize that this is true of any website that is not enshitified or, more broadly, is designed to maximize profits. Websites made with libre software are the public libraries of the internet!

It's like a public library that lets you borrow and read books from other cities' libraries!

I'm paying for the hosting of my single user instance.

Don't know where I read it, but I also like this metaphorical comparison:

Traditional social media is like a shop, except the customers are advertisers and you, as a user sit on the shelves, waiting to be bought. It's made entirely for revenue and profit, everything else is secondary. The shop will gladly show you an advertiser that pays for your attention before showing you your parent's vacation photos or the important post from that group you follow.

A fediverse instance is like a community garden. Nobody is a product and nobody is buying anything for themselves. Instead, everyone grows the garden together. Some people took initiative and responsibility with running the garden (admins/mods) and others joined and shared the garden with them and supported the garden with funds and content.

In the fediverse garden, there is no other point than talking amongst each other and the garden is connected to other gardens that work mostly with the same principles and the gardens "cross-polinate" each other with discussions and content and through that help each other grow even more.

Hosting is not free.

I did a 1 time donation to my instance and the devs that should cover more than a few years of me watching ads.

It's weird though because I really value the idea of supporting projects I like but I find it so hard to part with money when I am not forced. This does become easier as I become more financially stable.

Libraries are paid for by taxes

"You mean it just exists so people can share shitposts and memes? No engagement goals to please advertisers and shareholders?"

I think a federation of smaller hobby run sites is going to be the only way to avoid the commercialised Internet, and all the negatives it involves.

You even get the homeless guy watching porn here.

I just need a place to shitpost for stress relief, I get drawn into deeper discussions but my main goal is to be as thoughtless and as dumb as possible Wheeeeeeeee

You do need to donate

Well, if you want your instance to stay up you should expect to pitch in for operating costs...

/me taking a 3 hour sink shower in the bathroom

You might however be watching ads. And probably not realize it.
(Although, to be fair, right now we're probably much too small for anyone to bother doing much astroturfing)

The irony of my app having (well, trying to) ads is not lost on me.

Hear me out. Are we sure that European admins can't ask for national or European funds to run a Lemmy instances?

You pay with engagement. !

Can I use the printer?