platforms create a two sided market, inflating their own value as middlemen and blackbox (if not publicly listed). What mastodon showed is: how high is the bill

platforms create a two sided market, inflating their own value as middlemen and blackbox (if not publicly listed). What mastodon showed is: how high is the bill really? as in: given the opportunity, maybe users will foot the bill and having an incentive to optimize for cost. My only worry is a tragedy of the commons scenario.