I agree wholeheartedly with @macracanthorhynchus but I also have my own hypothesis about how things will evolve.
The special thing that Forums had that was mostly missing from the centralised reddit subs was the sense of intimacy within the community. Specifically to the extent that you would get to know some of the members despite the anonymity.
The Fediverse allows us to have the best of both worlds in this respect. You’ll pay special attention to the communities you are fond of, while at the same time keeping an eye on the rest.
Anyway, that’s just my half baked prediction, but I hope it comes true!
This is exactly my interpretation. They leverage tools above and beyond the average user. This makes the time they spend engaging with the platform more productive, higher quality, and more visible than the average user. Think of it not as power in the political sense, but in the sense of a ‘power’ tool.