2 points
What I meant behind federation was that the registration process can be hard to understand. But you’re right, after passing this step, you don’t really notice federation.
As for the self fulfilling prophecy, I think you’re right, which is why I still try to nudge my friends towards mastodon / pixelfed. I still believe in these projects, but I also don’t think Bluesky will be too detrimental to their growth.
