Lemmy/KBin are in early adopter territory right now, but with some of the iOS and Android apps maturing and hitting the app stores (scarily fast!) there’s a pathway for less tech-centric people to find their way over.
For now I try to focus on the pro of the “small user base” con, which is that engagement is way higher and there isn’t a metric shit-ton of karma-whoring comments and posts.
I’m using Memmy (iOS) and am subscribed on communities via a couple instances. It’s a Sunday arvo and I’m enjoying a drink and scrolling away, and for a minute I forgot I wasn’t scrolling Reddit on Apollo. That’s pretty amazing considering that a few weeks ago I couldn’t conceive of an alternative platform - and there functionally wasn’t, at least to the extent it is now. I reckon in another few months things will have really progressed again. So hang in there 🐱
Using the terms "telemetry" and "spyware" interchangeably makes the former seem more nefarious and the latter less nefarious. I understand where you're coming from but I wouldn't want to see the term "spyware" diluted to include anonymised data about how users are using product features.
That's not to say telemetry data is fine or that a company might claim to only use telemetry data isn't actually using spyware.