In this “idiot-proof” guide I recommend the app because it smooths over anything to do with Federation which is where people get confused. Choosing an instance and following people in the app is as easy as any other app.
The one issue that I think will catch people over and over again (and which I don’t even know how to fix) is that if you find a profile or post on a mastodon other than your own you can’t just follow or reply to it.
I know that there are browser extensions that make it work, but those are band-aids. You’d need an app that registered itself as the handler for every mastodon instance and opened all links in itself to handle it seamlessly for the average user.
In this “idiot-proof” guide I recommend the app because it smooths over anything to do with Federation which is where people get confused. Choosing an instance and following people in the app is as easy as any other app.
The one issue that I think will catch people over and over again (and which I don’t even know how to fix) is that if you find a profile or post on a mastodon other than your own you can’t just follow or reply to it.
I know that there are browser extensions that make it work, but those are band-aids. You’d need an app that registered itself as the handler for every mastodon instance and opened all links in itself to handle it seamlessly for the average user.