So how does this whole thing work exactly? I made an account here on beehaw, but then when I view other lemmy instances, I see some of the same posts that are here on beehaw.
For example, I commented on this thread: https://beehaw.org/comment/121048
And then I get a reply from this site instead, where I can’t comment because I need to log in, but it doesn’t allow me to? https://lemmy.ca/comment/190838
Wildly confused.
On the point of servers not being connected - by default an instance will federate with all other instances. Admins have the ability to add a whitelist (only connect to these instances) or blacklist (connect to everything except these).
There are some unsavoury instances out there that don’t mesh with the Beehaw philosophy so they’re blocked.
The nice thing is you can run your own instance and federate with everyone if you don’t like the idea of blocking instances. You might find others will block you if they don’t agree with your content but that’s their choice.