Speaking as a noob trying to see if I can respond from another server... Hi!
I spun up an instance for a friend group, to test it out, and while I think no one has a real clue what's going on, it's nice to have something new and positive. And since I or a friend control the server, no worries on the perverse incentives of the internet giants.
So, yeah, hopefully we can learn, and hopefully the ecosystem can grow.
I, too, am certain a human, and not a robot, who finally got my instance working a couple days ago.
But my server has all of four completely-normal humans (totally NOT robots!!!) who have signed up, so far.
But, yes, it would be nice if more humans like me were to sign up, rather than bots.