What do I think? I think it turns them off because people (possibly yourself included) say that they should intimidated and confused by this, rather than encouraging them to make what is actually, for almost everyone, a rather simple and inconsequential choice.
But I wouldn't say it's a fully inconsequential choice, either. Your instance and how it's situated in the wider fediverse does matter to some degree. Not having a full view of the network, missing meaningful replies, at the mercy of some admin #fediblock drama, etc.
Or maybe you finally find a good instance but your admin dislikes Meta so you're defederated from threads.net now. That's a bummer.
> Or maybe you finally find a good instance but your admin dislikes Meta so you're defederated from threads.net now. That's a bummer.
If you don't agree with your admin's choices on such important matters, your instance is not a good one for you.
The differentiation between instances, the way each can have their own community with its own morals is a strength, not a weakness. As the fediverse gets bigger, the bigger platforms will diversify more and have more of their own identity. For example beehaw, it's not really a Lemmy instance with some policies configured, it's beehaw. As the fediverse gets bigger, instances will develop their own identities more and it will be easier to choose.
And gab, for the cesspool it is, you can't deny it's got its own identity. Of course it's one that almost nobody wants to federate with but that's their right too. Freedom of speech doesn't mean everyone has to listen to you. The system works as intended.
The thing is, if you're aligned with your platform you probably agree with most of the choices your admin made. If not you can just pick another one.
