I’m wondering what “over 400 blocked instances” means in practical terms. Most of us have no idea if 400 is a large or small number in relation to the size of the fediverse. Most of us don’t know how big those blocked instances are, or if they even exist anymore.
Mostly, as you explain, I don’t care about numbers if what they’re blocking is hatred and abuse. Maybe “over 400 blocked instances” is supposed to be a criticism, but to me, it sounds like the people running Beehaw are doing their jobs well.
Yeah, I tend to think that most of the people who left wouldn’t be valuable members of the community anyway. Maybe they’re too impatient to deal with software that isn’t fully mature, maybe they can’t deal with the fact that most Lemmy instances are somewhere between leftish and outright communism, or maybe the somewhat chaotic nature of the fediverse turns them off. Whatever. I hope they find something that suits them.
I also hope, for their own sake, that the “something” doesn’t involve going back to reddit.
It can seem authoritarian or an overreaction of you don’t know why the decision was made.
Once a critic learns that defederating was a last-choice decision reluctantly made because of inadequate mod tools and a small, overwhelmed staff, things make more sense. If they still want to complain after that, I just walk away. Sometimes people have already decided to be angry regardless of what the facts are, and debate never helps in those situations.