I chose #3, after going so far as to set up an account on an instance. A couple other major issues killed it for me; the biggest being this bizarre, rabid hatred in the Mastodon community of being able to SEARCH content. I'm mystified that a tech-savvy segment of the population wants to publish material online and then "hide" it. I mean... how is that not monumentally ignorant?

And then there's the implication that you're supposed to choose a server based on some "interests" or "values." No. My interests change. This is supposed to be a global medium where ANY topics are discussed. Why should I be asked to pigeonhole myself in a special-interests community? Yes, I realize that some instances are "general," and content is propagated across instances, but I think this whole idea is dumb from the outset and creates confusion amongst the general public.

This goes back to the lack of search, too. If I'm interested in a topic, I expect to be able to search for it.

And finally I don't think your #1 is a solution, because the server I choose might be banned by other segments of the network and now I'm not reaching anyone. So... I still say this "freedom" is a sham.