Picking an instance that aligns with your values is fair enough – except that if you’re just joining for the first time then you probably have no idea what values each instance has; or even what kind of values you might be looking for; or how you might find out; or whether they are big or small; or reliable long-term instances or throw-away hobby projects.
… Like, most of what you need to know to make an informed choice only is revealed after you start using it - i.e. after you’ve already made the choice.
I’ve heard a suggestion of having a kind of ‘newbie instance’, where you just join by default to get a sense of what’s going on; and then later choose an instance that suits you. That would make it easier to make an informed choice later; but also probably be even more confusing - since you’d still be thinking about instances and stuff, and also that you have to move sometime… it probably creates more problems than it solves.
Picking an instance that aligns with your values is fair enough – except that if you’re just joining for the first time then you probably have no idea what values each instance has; or even what kind of values you might be looking for; or how you might find out; or whether they are big or small; or reliable long-term instances or throw-away hobby projects.
… Like, most of what you need to know to make an informed choice only is revealed after you start using it - i.e. after you’ve already made the choice.
I’ve heard a suggestion of having a kind of ‘newbie instance’, where you just join by default to get a sense of what’s going on; and then later choose an instance that suits you. That would make it easier to make an informed choice later; but also probably be even more confusing - since you’d still be thinking about instances and stuff, and also that you have to move sometime… it probably creates more problems than it solves.