O man I completely agree.
And if you think it's bad now, you should have seen onboarding a few years ago LOL
We've come a long way, but the truth is...It needs to be a seamless experience. No barrier of entry.
And then stop confusing people with all the mumbo jumbo...Get them using this stuff and experiencing things.
I can imagine @jongolson
I get it and i think it is great i just know right now it is like a developers platform right now and it needs to be like you say more of a seamless experience if it wants to be reaching the masses.
All the mumbo jumbo is not what most people look for in plaforms, they want to be able to easily pop on do there stuff, engage and what not. The masses love social media but they don't give a crap about how they technically work in fact i bet if you did a poll very few would have a clue or care.
I am sure it will get better that way here overtime like you said it's come a long way already just needs to be more.