My experience is signing up to a Mastodon instance a while ago then switching instances about two months ago, and all of it was exemplarily straightforward
Admittedly those are both pretty big instances so it’s not like I worried about either of them shutting down without notice or anything
Choice paralysis + the the fact that this random shitty instance that hosts maybe 300 people could go down at any moment + the admin could boot you for no seemingly no reason + the various issues with federation make it extremely unappealing for the average Joe. And if you want actual content and adoption you have to make concessions for them or else you’ll forever be irrelevant.
The entire point is you have a choice, though
That’s fine until making that choice feels like sifting through a massive stack of paperwork.
My experience is signing up to a Mastodon instance a while ago then switching instances about two months ago, and all of it was exemplarily straightforward
Admittedly those are both pretty big instances so it’s not like I worried about either of them shutting down without notice or anything
Choice is sometimes a bad thing.
Choice paralysis + the the fact that this random shitty instance that hosts maybe 300 people could go down at any moment + the admin could boot you for no seemingly no reason + the various issues with federation make it extremely unappealing for the average Joe. And if you want actual content and adoption you have to make concessions for them or else you’ll forever be irrelevant.