When using the official Mastodon app (as suggested in the "guide") "instances" are not a factor at all (unless the user specifically goes out of their way). A new user could have never even heard of the term "instance" and the above steps would work fine.

You don’t just download the app, create an account, and go.

Actually with Mastodon this is literally how it works.

EDIT: I should say this is how it works now, it didn't always used to be this way. The official Mastodon app used to ask the user to pick an instance, but for a number of years now it defaults every new account to mastodon.social unless they opt out. There was a big brouhah about centralization but the Mastodon devs felt it made for easier on boarding.

exactly. and trying to downplay potential users as stupid before they've even used a social media platform isn't going to exactly make them want to stay. or even try in the first place.

just makes mastodon look like a place where nerds reign free and normal folks won't be able to participate effectively.

if you want to make mastodon a destination and not a niche corner to be avoided, this is not the way.

i agree with you completely.

edit: I should clarify, the "guide" above is the thing insulting users. the guide is inaccurate.

Thanks for the honesty!

It used to blow my mind that the "omg how can the vote for Trump are they blind fanatics!n!?" would be the same "Omg how do you not see how easy this is!!?" people, but now I realize it's just people being loyal to their team, whatever it is.

then you need to decide your instance

Just use mastodon.social

If you feel like you want to join a more specific community then you can

Most of those are all really simple, common things that are done when creating accounts on any service though. If Mastodon is literally the first service you've ever signed up for in your life maybe that's justified but most people have made an account somewhere before.

And that's the point OP is trying to make. It's a very familiar process, except for step 1, which you can literally just ignore and pick the big highlighted blue button and avoid that scary and confusing "Pick another server" button if you're not up to it.

This “guide” is a bit of a joke made out of frustration.

I'm not sure, but i guess that it is replicating Twitter behaviour. I got used to that quickly.

But if you want a better experience you can easily find other front ends. I strongly suggest Phanpy that makes it really clear when a toot is part of a conversation/thread. It also does a lot of nice things like grouping boosts in horizontal carousels, collapsing long threads to avoid occpying the too many screens, and others, but it is still simple

i just went to bsky. mastodon was a bit too confusing for my tastes.