In the real world, the #1 selling point at the moment is merely that the fediverse is not Twitter. The supposed freedom of running server instances is an exagge

In the real world, the #1 selling point at the moment is merely that the fediverse is not Twitter. The supposed freedom of running server instances is an exaggerated benefit. Being federated with the big instances is essential for reaching the general public with your content, and that’s important for any academics doing pop-sci outreach. Moreover, as the other person mentions, even if your server conforms in every way with Mastodon founding-generation demands, your server can get defederated from the big instances if it federates with a server they don’t like.