let’s address the possibility that like mastodon/matrix 99% of ppl will flock to the biggest handful of servers
What is the real value of decentralization given that? Outside of like political unrest.
And what role do small servers really do in that landscape? Obv “novelty” servers like midov cater to the like lolicon enthusiasts and I’m sure there are a few other servers dedicated to illegal things. Regional severs are quite compatible with various nationalists/patriots
I’m a fediverse newb, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter much. You can subscribe/view other instances Communities, so you still can reach out to those smaller instances. Or you can use a smaller instance as your logon/home instance and subscribe to communities in larger instances, which is what I’ve done.
If the mods in your home instance become difficult, you can always create a new account elsewhere yet still participate in those other communities. We’re used to gravitating to the largest of a new platform for survival purposes on the internet. The federation concept makes that obsolete.