Reddit

The problem with federated services and I include Lemmy in this, is that first impression REALLY sucks. When you go to join it says "join a server" but it doesn't explain in straightforward terms what that even means. Maybe some people know what federated means but most don't care. Why are there multiple servers? What does it mean if I pick this server over that one? Why are they ordered like this? It's the same issue with Mastodon. "Join your server" but wtf does it mean???

People are used to single services, not federated ones and it is confusing. Attempting to explain it (or not) will confuse people even more. It's so confusing that some people turn tail and run, hurting uptake.

Change the initial sign up flow on join-lemmy.org. Don't say "join a server", say "join Lemmy". Don't show a randomized, indecipherable list of servers, just pick one for them from the a curated core set. If someone wants to learn about federation or wants to choose a server, then provide an option to do it, but don't just throw that in their faces. In other words, make it as simple as possible to sign up.

After people get over this hump and sign in, things become a bit less confusing but there are issues there. The ordering and even naming convention of communities is chaotic. It would be useful to think how to clean that up too.