This year has been a proving ground for federated social media. Platforms like #twitter/x and #reddit have faltered in an attempt to leverage their good will into something their users don't want. People are ready to begin to demonetize human interaction, and seek out people-oriented networks instead of advertising platforms. The #fediverse has shown it can adapt, scale, and help people connect and share, which is the point of #social media from the start.