Hopefully we'll reach that point eventually, and it would be a crying shame if it was then torn away by one dominant instance deciding to close up.
i see a ton of activity in both the development arena(client apps/servers) and content generation across (bots) the verse. im not convinced it has enough momentum but it just feels soo close to sustainable. my corner of the verse seems a bit dependent on the lemmys, but i dont think its forever.
i dont see the doom and gloom others do with metas instance. i see it as an off-ramp... the network communication required for metas users to be able to leave that old place behind and still communicate with their old friends.