The barrier to entry is a feature!

What? No it isn't. Any individual instance is as simple to navigate as Reddit. The federation aspect is still in an early stage of development and implementation.

Twenty years ago, Reddit was in a similar state. It took a long time and a lot of effort to improve the system enough to be easily navigated and searchable (and then more time to mangle these features in the name of monetization).

But the idea that federated instances being difficult to traverse and filter against are intentional is utterly bogus.

I want to hang with people who are at least smart enough to tie their shoes

If you're not navigating Lemmy via VIM, you are literally a baby who shits himself and needs someone to change his diaper.