This is also why should join a small instance. A large one doesn't even notice you. A small one does and feels gratitude.
It's like this with a lot of things in life. The big chains don't care about you whatsoever. A small boutique on the corner will recognize you and know your name.
I wish we would go back to local farming, grow our own food and trade with neighbour's for groceries. I don't like big corps anymore for anything.
I'm on a small instance and a large proportion of the lemmyverse is behind a fog of war. I can see some replies to my comments in my inbox, but not when I open the post. Also I'm seeing comms say they have xyz subscribers but I only see 2. Some comms I see no comments but my own. What I see logged in isn't what I see logged out. Small instances have their drawbacks too. I'm still happy here though.
(I agree with you on the rest though. That's my life goal.)
I feel like I'm in the minority because I would prefer to not have my donation called out. No matter the amount I donated because I wanted to support someone who entertained me and earned my money. My donation is about you not me.