Ehh, don't interpret me as being in favor of HOAs, but like, if $3 helped me connect with a huge userbase over the hobbies I enjoy, I'm willing to pay it to live in a gated online community.
My hobbies are not tech related. I have not found a new home or sense of community on kbin. That's just the reality of what I've lost by boycotting reddit on principle. In my offline world, I have paid to be a member of hobby communities just to offset the costs of organizing events and reserving group spaces. Arguably, I'm paying for the privilege to go there and "share content" through my presence. This isn't a big deal to me if I'm engaging the platform.
$3 would be a steal if I were a power user. $3 might be not worth it if I'm just a lurker.