Please be patient with those that don't understand "federation" the way you do.
To geeks federation means a world of endless possibilities. Don't like something? Roll your own instance and change it.
For non-geeks, federations quite reasonably means something different. It's a world of fixed possibilities and limited tools to discover/explore those possibilities.
Both views are valid and as people develop tools to lower the barriers to instance creation/discovery the divide will lessen.
Just meant fixed in the sense that the instance possibilities available to a regular person are bounded by the existing instances they will be able to realistically discover. "Finite" would probably have been a better word.
@krypteia Sure, although that's exactly the same for technical users right? Also the instance possibilities for a regular user could also seen as bounded by their social circle
I might not know how to set up an instance, but I might know someone who knows someone—that sort of thing. Early mastodon instances have nearly all had the sysadmin as the main leader and the main moderator, but historically that's not how websites (another decentralized server-based system) have worked.
@krypteia the best way to explain federation to newcomers: use the email analogy!
Emails are federated, and work in a very similar fashion.
You chose a provider to host your account, you go on that provider's website to use their services, and you can communicate with anyone, regardless of their provider.
@krypteia Can you explain the "fixed possibilities" one? Not sure I understand.