My original Mastodon account was on mastodon.social. I chose it because it’s the largest instance, it’s operated by the developers of the service, and it runs the reference implementation of the software. I wanted to experience the fediverse, initially, as most people do, then consider whether to migrate to another server, and if so, which one.
Last week I migrated to social.coop which, like cosocial.ca, is what Darius Kazemi calls a community-owned independent social media site. I don’t think the acronym COISMS will fly, but the business model is just what I’ve been looking for. I don’t want to use “free” services that make me the product they sell. I want to pay for a service that’s funded by my dollars, not by my data. That’s why I bailed on Gmail years ago, in favor of Fastmail, and it’s why I’m happy to spend $10/month—the price of a couple of cappucinos—to support the people who keep the lights on at social.coop and maintain civility.