>Facebook is not democratic and does not offer a self-hosted version. And it never did. But Facebook has been around for a long time. Facebook alternatives hav

>Facebook is not democratic and does not offer a self-hosted version. And it never did. But Facebook has been around for a long time. Facebook alternatives have had lots of time to spring up, and some have even had a lot of support (e.g. Google+). Why haven't those alternatives kept it honest? If it's the lack of compatibility, then the same issue can always appear in any centralised system. The fact that you have a "Export to local instance" button today doesn't mean it will be there tomorrow. If there is a technical coup, your ability to easily leave a centralised instance can easily be taken away - and if you're a non-technical user, what will you do then? There is no fighting the network effect if the people in charge are determined to make it difficult to federalise.