@Placholdr so way back in the bad old days, there was "the IRC network" in the way we have "the fediverse". Now there are many - EFnet, Undernet, etc. Each of these comprises multiple distinct servers forwarding messages among themselves, but there's no longer a single unified network, just these smaller fragments. Something like that nearly happened to the Fediverse with the "isolate Gab" movement a couple years ago, but it didn't amount to a complete split.