@tootbrute I think this is mostly a consumer mindset problem: only when we collectively stop tipping under moral coercion can this culture end. There are other ways to reward good / penalize bad service: adjust the frequency of going there, dis/recommend the place to friends, Yelp/Google reviews, etc. Personally I never tip, and if the staff gives me a bad look for it then I'm never going there again.
Now #Mammoth has always been interesting in making users not feel the #federation aspect. On one hand, the app fetching stats/replies of posts directly from the origin instance can be convenient. On the other hand, it nudges new users to their own instance, and there's the #SmartLists : browsing the Lists and viewing the List feed all happen on moth.social regardless of what instance you're on. Frankly, they can learn from https://a.gup.pe and make auto-boost accounts instead...
