I think small communities should be the norm.
Social media that makes it so that you’re always anonymous and always speaking to strangers creates a lot of problems (Internet Fuckwad Theory)
Recognizing other users and knowing that your behaviour will result in a negative reputation goes a long way towards creating higher quality discussions. Moderation isn’t as needed and it’s harder for outside actors to manufacture a consensus by spamming bot accounts.
I think that’d go a long way towards resolving a lot of problems created by social media.