So when you share something on mastodon, even if no one clicks a link, it is going to get Ο(n) connections from n servers fetching for previews.
If you have n followers, even if many of them stopped logging in a year ago, your server is going to need to do Ο(n) connections to feed out that information.
If you want to load a tree of replies, you're looking at Ο(n) requests.
These are all incredibly expensive burdens and operations that should not be that burdensome.
One thing about larger systems and more centralized systems is that they _don't have these problems_.
Not have more ways to work around these problems. They _flat do not have them_. To the degree they do have them, they can often solve them in significantly less time and with less complexity than solving them in mastodon takes.
If you believe in a vision for the fediverse that involves a lot of small servers, this should worry you and is something to spend some time on.
