I feel like I’ve been seeing more posts and comments though, and looking at those, they seem to still be rising (although probably influenced by bots).
I wonder if the spike of active user may be caused by people first trying it out (then giving up), followed up by people making several accounts on different instances before settling for one or two.
If I occasionally faintly hear a short sound, but it’s not noticeable when I’m focusing on something else and it’s only every few hours, I’m fine with it. Any more than that is unacceptable IMO, unless all your neighbors do it and are okay with it somehow.
Maybe I was spoiled by thick walls.