I run Mastodon in single user mode (only myself) and lemmy with registrations disabled. Also don't use image proxy-ing with pictrs on lemmy if u concerned about illegal images
this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
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I ran mine for a bit and itβs a resource hog, fragile, and images are a constant problem because the cache just keeps growing and growing so either you keep a limited timeframe of user images or you pay for storage elsewhere.
I was the only user so I didnβt have to deal with moderation, but what finally spooked me was the possibility of someone posting something illegal and it propagating over to my server. That was why I stopped hosting my Lemmy server, too.
Can you just turn that off, and make people directly link to the external media?
AFAIK If you host GotoSocial it links out to the instances where content is hosted, rather than downloading it as a copy. I have a single-user instance on a tiny VPS and it uses hardly any resources. I think part of the reason for that is the above. You have to use a client application with it because there is no web interface, which I think is partly why it is so lightweight.
Might be worth looking at if you're concerned about accidentally hosting things you don't want.
Do you want to host just for yourself or for other people as well?
Other people as well
I set up a piefed instance pretty easily for personal use, I recommend checking it out
IMO Lemmy/PieFed is safer to run because the community mods will delete anything illegal, which will delete it for you, too. About 5 instances host 95% of communities worth joining so it's easy for us to coordinate defense.
Mastodon is thousands of instances and more wild west. Bad stuff can come from anywhere.
There's always a possibility of someone posting arbitrary content when a platform allows user content or combines content from many sources. I mean we do have moderation here and illegal content is supposed to be removed or flagged. However as the operator of some internet service, you are ultimately responsible for what's on your instance. So you definitely do need to make an effort to stay in control. Btw, there are possible compromises, such as using an allow-list of instances you federate with, so you don't pull content from sources you don't trust and didn't approve.
Define that you're responsible for content originating from your instance on your legal page, and make use of fediseer to block instances that consist of illegal content in your country.
If you're selfhosting, chances are the worst legal offending instances per your laws are already blocked by your country.
honestly it's better to just host your own private instance as if you want a lemmy and mastodon instance that others can also set up you not only have to admin it you also have to moderate it.
Also keep in mind it's NOT just actual people signing up but you also have to deal with all the bots which WILL register en masse to your instances. a lot of people won't mention this. bots flock to this stuff like flies on shit. It's not worth it unless you plan on really dedicating the time to actively admin your instances.
I run Akkoma instead of Mastodon and Piefed instead of lemmy. both of which were easier to setup than mastodon/lemmy and less resource heavy.