@gglockner My experience with the user base of Mastodon is opposite. They will try to help you as best as they can, and they want to make you feel welcome.
The signup process is horrible, and then you just stare into the void because it is not clear what you should to afterwards. Took me a while to realize that followers (and being followed) is pointless on Mastodon. Hashtags is all that matters. This will also perhaps dissuade new users who are used to the rush of getting followers and/or likes/boosts/retweets