LemmyFund

Thanks for the answer, makes the idea more tangible for me.

It might be that I’m completely wrong and data is duplicated all over the place, that should keep the bandwidth usage to instance users and server-to-server talk, which makes the cost-base more local.

I believe that is the case, yes. Users interact with local copies of remote content, and federated servers share these interactions with each other. This also explains how defederated communities do not disappear, but you can only see interactions from other local users.

It might still be true that some instances have a higher operating cost than others, possibly even while having less users. While a video instance shares some load with others, it still has to host all of it itself. But don't take my word on this one, I'm still learning.

That point needs clarification from my point of view: What funding challenges do instances face, and are the challenges different for different types of instances?

That would still not benefit communities, which is where I want to be able to possibly head towards too, that you can fund communities you interact with directly, whether local or federated.

What funding do communities need? Unless we're talking about paid moderators, I think the instance pays all the bills.