The #forkiverse seems like a good model for expanding the fediverse: instances based on existing audiences.

Hear me out. Fanbases have an automatic sense of community. They are more likely to be politically/culturally similar. Users already like the admin (e.g. the podcast host). The admin can’t be a tyrant, because the users are also their audience.

And there’s that last hard-to-describe ingredient. That sense of energy and momentum. “Hey, come join, we’re starting something together!”