@evan I had some similar thoughts in 2023 and expressed them in this blog post: https://fietkau.blog/2023/another_blog_resurrection_fediverse_new_comment_system (section “A Shift in Complexity”)

The idea is that federation doesn't inherently make online interactions more complex, but it slices the innate complexity of many-to-many communication into differently shaped parts than centralized platforms do. Some of the perceived complexity is just unfamiliarity.

I don't know if my ideas on this are very mature, but I think I stand by the core thesis.