@opalideas @paulbusch @ZebKing

p.s. One thing to add though, the cost of an instance is not as much as people think and not as difficult either. The managed hosting company masto.host has a typical selection of pricing: https://masto.host/pricing

Managed hosting means they do all the techy stuff as well as hosting it. You just run the thing, it's a similar experience to running an online forum.

I'm not saying everyone should do this, I'm just saying a lot more could do this than realise it.

@opalideas @paulbusch @ZebKing

Another approach is to use things like NodeBB ( https://nodebb.org ) which are part of the Fediverse but based around discussion forums. This is a lot closer to Facebook Groups, but it's also fairly new in its Fediverse connections. Best people to ask would be @nodebb and @julian . You can follow and interact with NodeBB accounts from Mastodon etc.

A third approach might be the various Reddit-style Fediverse platforms like https://join.piefed.social etc.

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@opalideas @paulbusch @ZebKing

There are many ways to approach these issues.

One approach is to use groups to allow people to easily reach each other no matter what instance they are on (more about groups at https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-groups-on-the-fediverse/ ).

These kinds of groups are like "super hashtags", they repeat posts that mention them but use a push method to reach other servers that is a lot more effective than hashtags.

However, they are not forums the way Facebook Groups are.

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