What is an instance?

An instance is a deployment of Lemmy. sh.itjust.works, lemmy.ml, lemmy.world, ani.social are all instances.

what is a federation?

Federation is the ability for these instances to communicate with each other. I can make post in this community (!nostupidquestions@lemmy.world) using my account (@hitagi@ani.social), while you are reading it on another instance (sh.itjust.works).

It’s like how you can send email from gmail.com to yahoo.com or outlook.com.

what is a server?

In simpler ways, the same as instance, but technically it also means the computer/hardware that Lemmy is running on.

can someone please describe in simple terms how this all runs and how we as users navigate it?

1. Make an account in any server you like. join-lemmy.org has a long list of them.

2. Subscribe to communities that you like. There’s a search feature above or you can search in lemmyverse.net.

3. Use it as you normally would use Reddit.