Yeah that’s how I see it too. If the fediverse becomes mainstream/commercial then I’m happy more people are off the big closed platforms, but I don’t want any part of the pro-capital ad culture if they start reproducing that here.

I think small private groups of vetted members are likely to become even more popular if that’s the case. It would be a shame for search and discoverability, but if an open connection to the web leads inexorably to bots you really can’t tell from people…

Kind of overstating it but it would be like an internet dark age in a way. Most conversations encrypted, unarchived, known only to a few. Like you were saying, conversations like this, on the open web, just wouldn’t happen anymore if the internet is just for business, shopping, etc