> Are you saying that these large instances would refuse to interoperate with each other? Likely. It's the same thing that happened to the big XMPP instances.

> Are you saying that these large instances would refuse to interoperate with each other? Likely. It's the same thing that happened to the big XMPP instances. There are other ways that open systems turn closed. I'm not sure which one would happen to the Fediverse, but given how often it has happened, and the variety of proximate causes and exact end-states, I'm betting my money on the Fediverse turning closed somehow. * The XMPP path where the biggest instances just decide they aren't going to federate with anyone else any more. * The SMTP path where the big instances gradually accumulate anti-abuse mechanisms that make the barrier to entry too high for anyone who requires reliable delivery and isn't one of them. * The IRC path where the network fractures into centrally-controlled coalitions that federate with each other but not with anyone outside the coalition. * The NNTP path where the cost of running a server kept going up, the number of servers kept going down, and now if you want access to the entire network, you have to pay a subscription fee to one of three companies. * The Git path where a single instance bundles value-adds that lead to most users just using the one central service.