when a community doesn't subsume itself into the wider site network and instead leaves partially or entirely offsite, that's a split. That's what I meant. I know how this site was formed.

I think the site should want to grow - i think the site needs a way to bring people in - like current users should be encouraged to bring people in they know that would be a fit for the community. However, soliciting/doing work on places like r*ddit to bring people in is going to get the wrong kind of attention, and success in terms of user count can be a major failure in terms of ideological priority if done incorrectly, and I think the general desire to "grow the site" as a direct first-priority concern is not the way to grow hexbear such that it keeps what makes it a worthy place to come to.

not all growth is good. the site problems facing hexbear are things that would be rendered completely dysfunctional at a larger scale - the site mods and admins need a better handle on their internal processes and how they interact with the community, for one. If there is this much drama at this scale, that's not something that can weather a user influx and stay usefully itself imo.

I think there's virtue in obscurity and any growth strategies should seek to preserve it as long as possible.