But it's not like that, you don't need to create a separate account on every single one. You can follow any account on any server/community from just one accoun

But it's not like that, you don't need to create a separate account on every single one. You can follow any account on any server/community from just one account. That's the big difference/selling point. It's the "local timeline", an optional discovery feature, that adds the incentive to create more accounts; but there are definitely ways to circumvent it. Many communities expose their timeline publicly and there's almost always a public profile directory so you can see who's on that server/community to follow them.