I think this is the way we should communicate, when presented with the question on how to get on Mastodon:

Copy paste from the link:

How do I use Mastodon?

  • Download the Mastodon app from the Apple app store or Play store.

  • Create an account (just like Twitter or any other social media)

  • Follow people, and get posting.

Why do tech journalists say it’s too confusing to catch on?

I have no fucking idea.

EDIT for clarification, don’t take this too seriously:

This “guide” is a bit of a joke made out of frustration. If you actually want to know more, including why I feel it has potential to free us from the dystopian hellscape that is modern social media, here is the “real” guide to Mastodon. It still uses simple language (and has lots of pictures!):

Please share widely

  • LandedGentry@lemmy.zip
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    22 hours ago

    We both know that is not how this should work. If everybody joins the same instance, we’re basically right back where we started. We want people to be distributed among other instances.

    If one instance has 97% of the userbase then they basically get to dictate the whole thing. What if mastodon.social ended up being hexbear or lemmygrad? Or some MAGA right wing instance?

    Twitter was a shit hole but nobody thought it was going to be where it is now. Your average “liberal” CEO typically has a floor of how shitty they are willing to be because even they have common sense. Musk has no such floor

    • lgsp@feddit.it@feddit.itOP
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      21 hours ago

      We both know that is not how this should work. If everybody joins the same instance

      But this doesn’t happen. Mastodon.social is far from 90%, and the former CEO made the choice of letting control go to an entity that is no-profit, I think it’s the right choice.

      • The casual user joins mastodon.social (default highlighted choice). He can enjoy the Fediverse and discover its complexity with experience, not by understanding everything in advance.
        • He can the move to another instance if he feels so, after undetstanding what this actually means
      • The more advanced user probably already knows the instance thing, and maybe doesn’t even use the offical app
    • manxu@piefed.social
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      21 hours ago

      I think it’s the “basically” part in basically right back where we started that makes the difference. Even if 100% of Fediverse users were on a single instance, once that instance starts pulling Musk moves, the users can move somewhere else.

      Only if that instance defederates from everyone else do we get the Twitter situation again. Or, since that’s actually what happened, Truth Social, which I think is just a slightly modified Mastodon instance with federation disabled/deactivated.