I think it’s an “analysis paralysis” problem. I spent 20 minutes trying to figure out what instance to join while worrying about what was “right” (of course an incorrect question), what “fit” my inclinations/preferences, will it be around in X time, who are the mods, don’t want to centralize on just one instance, until I just bit the bullet.
I’m reminded of how Job’s late-90’s mass simplification of the Apple product line made it easier for consumers to just pick something. (general or pro user? laptop or desktop? boom, done.)
Comes to mind that mastodon.social is open to everyone, it doesn’t get more obvious than that.
Seems like people are more stumped by the idea of having to pick than with what that actually entails. Even as far as following people goes, it’s as simple as an email address, and mastodon searches usernames in other instances.
I believe if more people avoided bringing up instances and just said "make an account on mastodon.social ", most of these complaints of how complicated it is would disappear.
