The essential characteristics of a decentralized community are:

A single shared set of tools for mutual interaction, where “interaction” could mean transaction (btc), communication (nostr), etc.

No one is necessarily in charge of those tools.

No one necessarily has a bird’s eye view of the entire community.

Who curates the tools? Everyone (consensus is reached). No one (no leaders).

Consensus on some given set of tools therefore becomes the *definition* of that decentralized community. The act of consent to the community’s tools for interaction equals membership in the community.

It’s important to note that communities can be of any size and can overlap. Community A = people who use standard basic English, community B = the people who prefer to-MAY-to, community C = the people who prefer to-MAH-to. Communities B and C overlap community A. The union of B and C equals community A, more or less.