@dotto Each server is independent of each other (data is stored via the instance you're a part of), however you can interact with other instances.

Think of instances like different email services. There's Gmail, Outlook, etc. Each email provider stores your data on their own servers, but you can still send emails from Gmail to Outlook. Mastodon is kind of like the central protocol that each instance has to abide by.

@dotto I chose this instance out of pure relevance to what I do for work -- no other reason! I'm new here as well, so just getting a feel for how it all works too.

The nice thing is, you can migrate to another instance (you currently lose your messages, however) and take your followers with you. So in the worst case that this instance might disappear, you can migrate to another one. You can find the migration stuff in your profile settings if you're curious.