I've been predicting for while we're going to see two parallel Internets develop, the "new" net running on the old infrastructure that's basically run by the big guys and a new infrastructure modeled after the old internet that's decentralized. We've been seeing a bunch of different pieces from Fediverse to LoRa communication, Meshtastic, Matrix, increased hobbyist interest in old ways of connecting computers (even saw a guide on how to set up your own dial up ISP for fun), etc. I'm not sure exactly how all those pieces are going to come together, but a locked down internet is only going to increase demand for what was lost in its creation. And its already been trending this way for awhile.

Agreed. Lemmy, while being very new, mimics features of ye olden times. Newsgroup era and all... But Reddit kinda started that way and then, as all good things, slowly enshittified. It seemed to resist enshittification longer than most sites. At least that was my impression. But good things can't last. There's no such thing as a free lunch, after all, I guess.