Oh, ok, I get it. I can set up an account on this instance, but follow people on other instances, and they show up in the "Home" timeline.

Which means instance don't really matter (if you don't mind the @name@instance format). They more like email providers.

THe instance just provides the account.

This does mean if the instance shuts down, you lose your account, but it looks like they're working on ways to move your followers to a new account on a new instance.

@korvys don't forget, you have the ability to export your Following list at any time, and you should always be able to import that into a new instance.

@jason I'm more interested in keeping my followers if I decide I like another instance better.

(Which sounds kinda conceited, but it's more if I move, I don't want to spam everyone "hey come follow me over at this new instance")

@korvys I get that. It's a tricky thing, though. You can't really force people to follow what is a literal different account.