In bobsled, the other people at the back are important for the initial pushoff, since you’re allowed a running start. And then I’m pretty sure everyone helps steer, based on what the guy in the front is doing/commands he gives.
Granted, all my knowledge of bobsled comes from Cool Runnings, so take all that with a grain of salt
The “it’s like email” analogy was always doomed, because the people saying it know how email works at a technical and architectural level, while the people hearing it know email as “that thing that Just Works ™️ to send messages to anyone else with an email address”.
At that level, the Fediverse and Email are nothing alike.