With regards to the shortcomings of federation and buy-in friction for new users, that op-ed republished by arstechnica isn't wrong.
I don't know what to do about it. I don't have the bandwidth or knowledge to fix the problem. But I would support those who can lower the friction for new users and assist with the growth of non-billionaire-owned platforms.
Yeah, the fediverse won't take off until some dedicated folks make some tools or apps to make it actually usable. Until then, it's a bunch of programmers typing "it's not that bad" into their TI-83s hooked up wirelessly to their 1990's Linux PC via Raspberry Pi.