[thegrim33]

You're portraying it as if there's not a small number of de-facto public square "boards" that the vast majority of people get almost all of their information from. Manipulation of those boards has an absolutely massive effect, and saying "well, you could go out in the woods and create your own public forum that a handful of people would ever see" isn't really an acceptable alternative.

[WWLink]

You're assuming that the vast majority of people want to hear your message. Maybe they like that site because it doesn't allow messages like that.

[vacuity]

This is why I wish there was a megaforum where anyone can isolate themselves into smaller forums as they wish. Then no one gets deplatformed by the feds or corporations or whatever (unless they call for violence or doxx someone, something like that), and yet no one has to see what they don't want to. Still but a stopgap to foster better communities, alas.

[hellojesus]

Isn't that essentially reddit?

[vacuity]

I suppose, but more general ways to structure the forum, moderation, how to do upvotes or likes, and so on. Maybe decentralized and federated. Make the whole Internet message passing, even!

[krapp]

Isn't that Mastodon?

[vacuity]

Sure, if Mastodon works as broadly as I described. It just needs to be more widespread then.