Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've run an online community since 2001 and I've yet to meet the boogeymen of self-hosting. A small site and forum with ~100 users doesn't cost a shit to run ($5 per month, the cost of a coke and a sandwich where I live), updates itself automatically via CPanel, and it isn't much of an issue if it goes down for an hour or two every other year. That's an acceptable cost for not having to submit to anyone's whims about…
That's an acceptable cost for not having to submit to anyone's whims about allowed content Only 100 users and anything goes --- yes, I can see how that might be acceptable. I can also see how most people might have little to no interest in participating.
The small community can make its own rules. I’ve seen Mastodon instances with both stricter and less strict rules than Twitter. And it’s fine because people can just spin up a new instance if they don’t like it.