So here’s how I understand it:
lemmy.world, lemmy.fmhy.ml, beehaw, (instances) etc. are all basically different servers. But they essentially all have access to the same communities, aka the equivalent of a subreddit, even though some communities are are hosted on lemmy vs beehaw, etc.?
If my understanding is correct, then, for the layman, each different instance can be seen as a site to view any of the communities, so we can register with one instance, and browse everything they all have to offer. Is that about right? Sorry, I know a guide has been posted, but I’m trying to reduce the functionality to fit into my feeble mind.
Yup. It’s like email.
You can have a gmail account, but still send and receive to and from someone with a hotmail account.
The emails that you both see, are stored on gmail and hotmail, but not on protonmail, unless you cc’d someone with a protonmail, in which case, it gets stored and becomes accessible, there too.