What's the alternative closest to the completeness of Instander at the moment? I have been using the last version of Instander still supporting v7a which is v16.0 for many years now and as it seems there is a chance it will finally stop working soon.
All networks start small. What happens upon seeding is we often find, increasingly interesting overlaps, someone, somewhere different, or someone different finds it. Because it's an open network, not a gate kept network, or at least more open. Over the long run, the fediverse will increase in population, and popularity, overtaking networks whose primary purpose is advertising and data collection. So yes, start small, try and see what happens. This is his we build sustainable networks, for the people, by the people.