If software on the fediverse such as lemmy and kbin are connected similar to emails, how come I cannot use kbin with my lemmy account and have to create a new one for kbin specifically? Is this just a bug, or have I misunderstood how the fediverse works?
You have misunderstood. You can’t use your gmail account to sign into an outlook account. However, you can email people with the same or different email providers.
I’m using an account registered on lemmy.click, and am subscribed to magazines from kbin.social. They show up in my stream, and I can use them as if they were lemmy communities.
Conversely, I’ve seen kbin users commenting in lemmy threads.
I don’t know how much of this is the norm or the exception. I heard that kbin.social federated with lemmy, that’s when I went looking for their magazines.
But generally speaking, you don’t have to create a kbin specific account and can access kbin with a lemmy account. In practice, the scope might still be limited. I also still have a lot to learn.