@thomasfuchs I believe this to be a red herring. It is more than just choosing an instance this focus helps trivialize. That 'you have to work at it' may be a better way to describe the problem.

People are addicted to the algorithm(s). It does most of the work for them and delights them with material they like to see with virtually no effort.

Here you have to:
1) Choose an instance
2) Learn a new interface
3) Learn the 3 ways to post (DM, Followers, Public) and remember to use the right one
4) Find people to follow with little search capability
5) Manually cut and paste addresses from profiles on another server to your server to follow
6) Learn and adapt to new social norms (CW/ALT text)
7) A bunch of other things I have forgotten...

So the addiction is so much easier than something that seems like 'work'.

Some portion of this is just tech stuff to solve for, another portion is retraining people to be considerate of themselves and others.