@Funktious @me Yeah, I wonder if it's similar here to how things were on a small-ish community blogging site I was on years ago (blog.co.uk).
No "algorithm". We'd basically form our own little circle of friends by writing articles, finding other people's blogs in the directory, commenting on each other's articles, joining groups.
Maybe the people who didn't get Mastodon never really had that kind of experience?