It never really died, but it got a boost lately with people getting more critical about the sources they get the news from instead of relying on Google or removed algorithms. Fediverse supporting RSS also didn't hurt.
I have mixed feelings towards the repost bots. I see no value in pure reposts from Reddit, but I also have no issue with them IF they only post on dedicated instances and mark the account it’s posting from as a bot. Those posts have no engagement. Most people either disable bot posts in settings or block then once they see them. There is nothing wrong with growing communities slowly, but with organic content or only reposting the most interesting stuff.
It really depends on the instance and their own rules. Some might allow it, while others wouldn't. It would definetely need to be aggressively moderated to avoid promoting any illegal sales, etc.
Only admins of the various instances can really clarify this.
Not really, it's possible to reach it online, but it comes with compromises to user experience. That's not something most people will ever want, but everyone can easily minimize the data being collected about them without harming user experience.
Congratulations!