I don't think it's necessarily the case that we need centralization for like-minded people to find eachother. It might be slower, but discovery can also happen

I don't think it's necessarily the case that we need centralization for like-minded people to find eachother. It might be slower, but discovery can also happen through word of mouth and individual connections. I actually think centralized social media causes a huge number of problems. Algorithmic discovery mechanisms specifically allow small numbers of highly motivated actors to spread fringe messages in a disproportionate way if they figure out how to game the system. That wouldn't be the case if the main way you found out about a new forum or news source was the direct endorsement of someone you trusted.