I think I see why they increased the radius. The new raids have more different encounter map layouts from just a square or circular field, so they might be experimenting with different varied boss floor layouts (which is great). I can see why they increased the radius to ensure mechanics that require party members to be far away will have no issue on receiving the buff effect for that reason. Maybe Savage fights will have a different map layout?

On another note, I really like the new collective unconscious second wave. The sfx and animation is great with the increased radius, but it sometimes randomly cancels the channel skill when I use it so I don't get the celestial ring. It's not a big issue since I plan on mostly using the skill for the snapshot, but is a bit annoying sometimes if I do want to channel a bit longer for non-targetable phases. I think the second diffused snapshot effect of collective Unconscious makes it my favorite skill out of all the healers currently due to both the nicer visual/sfx and the extra layer of nuance from giving a more pronounced effect on the usage of keeping the channel active in a smaller radius as opposed to standing far away to receive the snapshot defense buff.

Or maybe I'm just sick of everyone not being within 8y when using Collective Unconscious, and this fixes that problem entirely lol.