I'm not sure if it's the decentralized platforms giving each community a niche or that the 'herd' hasn't made its way to the fediverse due to complexity but both lemmy and mastodon conversations are a breath of fresh air - it's almost like the internet used to be on usenet and IRC.
I can't wait for polite flame wars to start ๐
I've always gone back and forth on the /s honestly. Sometimes, depending on the writer's style it's really easy to pick up in text but some text really needs the extra cues you'd get from facial expression and speaking tone to get it. It also depends on the receiver and the context of the conversation. My feeling is it's here to stay.