There's something I find quite concerning: on a recent poll on r/redditalternatives the "best" alternative by a large amount is squabbles.io, then beehaw, fediverse "regular" instances (kbin, lemmy) only coming in 3rd and 4th position.
If that poll really reflects the opinion of the average reddit Joe (I tend to take external polls with a grain of salt as they can easily be brigaded), not only people are voting en masse for a centralized solution - again, but also they're favoring the maverick fediverse instance over proper ones.
Even more concerning, this snippet taken from squabbles.io's privacy policy:
Disclosure of Information
We may share your personal information in the following circumstances:With your consent or as otherwise necessary to provide our services
With trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website and services
When required by law, or in response to a valid legal request
In connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, in which case your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity
To put it bluntly: brace yourselves, we will sell your data (and likely the company) as soon as we get enough dough from it.
I like the way you're thinking, I certainly lack a bit of perspective after all that pessimistic-driving reddit ruckus. Gotta shed those old habits and reflexes.
Still, the worrying proportion of users ready to renew the "feed the beast" experience raises some concern. Rejoining @timewarp here, we have to inform people and spread the good news.