Well, but that basically means I’d have to rely on different platforms if I want to post and discuss, say, niche music that’d just be buried immediately in the usual “popular” music communities (that often have a slightly rockist slant).
Even on reddit, the ambient music or IDM communities are fairly small.
I think it will … if I look at my own use-cases for sites like this, it’s connecting with people over shared interests (rather than instances) or scrolling memes. I don’t see how any of these use cases benefit from federation (from the user perspective). The looming threat of information disappearing due to defederation, the confusion about instances, etc … that’s off-putting even to tech-savvy users.
Also ultimately I find it questionable from a philosophical perspective. Why should it matter which instance is your “home” instance, unless that’s specifically the way of interaction you’re looking for?
Again, for me it’s interests over instances, and I think the federation aspect is just an additional layer that doesn’t add any value.
Hmm I get your point, but on the other hand, I suppose nowadays many people are just used to look for a niche community … and finding it. So it’s not a huge surprise if the first reaction is disappointment when you don’t find anything like it or just an empty community.