For what definition of 'very successful' are we using here? Mastodon has <900k MAU, Lemmy <45k. It's not nothing, but compared to what they're competing with(Twitter at > 330 million), they aren't even a blip on the radar.

If we're defining success as not having died out and generally working, I guess I could agree.

Are you enjoying your time on HN? It's about quality not quantity.

Defining success := MAU is a very one dimensional way of thinking and it's not even the most important dimension from a user perspective.

HN is not a mass product and has no ambitions to become a social media for the masses. Mastodon is and does.