A significant part of the draw of web 2 systems like X is that they are used to create social pressure/change. This only works as long as 'politicians' and other such figures use the system and people think they can reach or sway them... or if there enough people on the network as a whole that it seems that movements can grow to a significant size if they are formed there.

The inceptions of Twitter and Facebook were massively 'helped' by CIA funding and they were always intended to be a system of monitoring, control and power plays. Combined with there being no earlier equivalent technologies from which people needed to be lured away from, they grew exponentially through word of mouth.

Today they have the benefit of this history and so anyone wanting to challenge them needs to appreciate this dynamic and make use of it. This is exactly why I have always advocated for the free speech features of Hive and aimed to attract potentially powerful people/speakers to make use of Hive. Unfortunately, plenty of the current biggest holders of HP either don't understand this or don't want this to work for their own reasons. Coupled with the fact that the powerful people won't likely use a small network anyway, there is a huge barrier to being able to amplify Hive's network effect in these most efficient ways.

The combination of the right philosophy, the right technology and the right messaging to the right audiences can change all of this.