I think you’re both right at different levels: the only way a pariah site can survive is by being cheap enough that a few dedicated people can fund it – 4chan/8chan stuck around for years despite no sensible investors or advertisers wanting to be seen anywhere near them because their operating costs didn’t require huge resources. Sites like Voat or Truth Social, and now Twitter, suffer because they try to be like mainstream platforms but can’t generate the same kind of revenue.