I think federation is the future of user-created content sharing, it just was always a bit ‘early’ for me when replacing existing social media and not having my existing networks there. I think the Reddit/Lemmy mindset being around connection over interests instead of with specific people reduces that friction and the technology is mature enough for prime time (scaling issues aside).
It’s an exciting time for the internet!
Try clearing your cookies and reaccessing Lemmy.World, it should let you in. I think I saw someone post about this bug the other day.