@scottjenson@social.coop If you're an experienced user, yes, the Federated timeline may be of little value, but if you're just getting started, it gives you a way to see what others are on about and find new peeps to follow.

I'm on a fairly quiet server myself(holos.social has 24 users... only two of which appear to have posted and PDX.social is definitely bigger, but pales in comparison to mastodon.social, tech.lgbt, mstdn.social, etc.) so local timelines can be useful to tie you into the community you've joined, but might be inadequate if you're looking for a wider range of discussions. This makes the Federated timeline useful there, too. Matter of fact, I wouldn't know of #hashtaggames were it not for the Federated timeline.

I think that, if you wanted to make them more intuitive

Public - Shout
Unlisted/Quiet Public - "Public" or "Out with Friends"
Followers Only - "Friends(for no reason other than consistency) Only"
@mention">@mention/Private - "Secrets"/"Whispers"

Or you could Anglicise it:
Public - "Performers" or "American Tourists"
Unlisted/Quiet Public - "Pub with your mates"
Followers only - Mates and a Cuppa
@mention">@mention/Private - Keep it secret, yeah?

I'm obviously kidding a bit. I don't think search can fix it. I think renaming might have value.