@evan when I got started with the fediverse this question represented all of my apprehensions about what this thing was. While I understand everything can be viewed from multiple viewpoints, I really find that the Instance as Node (or Instance as Community as Node) graph is the most intuitive for both new and veteran fedizens.

This is especially apparent when a community may operate multiple software, such as offering both Mastodon and Pixelfed, for their members.