@rufustheduck I just made a post regarding this topic

https://retro-gaiden.com/@Oregon_Pacifist/115967555145571432

Essentially, you'll want to find instances that closely align with what you want your Fediverse experience to be. For me, I wanted to create a small corner where we focus on retro stuff, nostalgia, and wholesome content.

There's nothing inherently wrong with mastodon.social. It's just that you're putting all of your eggs into a single basket which is not really what the Fediverse was designed for.