[viridian]

It's sort of like rap music. In a way, the more popular bits have essentially become a part of the commodified dominant monoculture, insofar as we still have a monoculture left.

On the other hand, the niche has become significantly more niche after a messy de facto divorce from the 'poppy' parts of rap/nerd culture. The barrier to entry to these subcultures in a way are higher than ever, because the monoculture bits capture and hold the vast majority of people with a more casual interest.

This natural schism and reification that develops is something I think David Chapman's "Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths"[1] fails to identify, but we have the advantage of over a decade of evolution and hindsight since it was written.

[1] https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths