It definitely is a contributing factor in large communities and your strategy should include processes to support those groups to fragment and operate semi-autonomously.
From: Community Fragmentation: When Growth Becomes Your Obstacle
The last phase in the lifecycle of an online community is known as mitosis, named for the process of cell division where a single cell splits into genetically identical child cells. The objective is to enable splitting while retaining identity. It takes intentionality to ensure the subgroups inherit the DNA of the original community – the values, culture, and shared lore – not just its members.
The strategy for mitosis will look different for every community because each is unique, but in order to succeed it must enable the formation of subgroups that operate autonomously as a symbiotic part of the wider community ecosystem.