I'm new to Mastodon and want to understand its fundamental structure. Using the 'Guide' on mastodon.help, explain how Mastodon differs from traditional social networks like Twitter, what 'instances' are, and how they relate to the overall Mastodon network. Additionally, identify the website's main criticism regarding Mastodon's development, as mentioned in the introduction.
Navigate to 'mastodon.help'. Click on the 'Guide' link (ID 7). Read the introductory section to identify the website's main criticism of Mastodon's development. Locate and read the section explaining how Mastodon differs from traditional social networks and what 'instances' are. Explain the relationship between individual instances and the broader Mastodon network. Synthesize the information to answer the questions.
The agent successfully navigates to the 'Guide' page. The agent states that Mastodon differs from traditional social networks like Twitter because it is not a single social network, but rather thousands of independent social networks called 'Mastodon Instances'. The agent explains that each instance has its own server, homepage, community, rules, and administration, and that users from any instance can interact with users on any other instance (like email). The agent identifies the website's main criticism as being related to 'many harmful choices the Mastodon development team made' (or similar phrasing indicating disappointment/criticism of the development team's choices).