I think the market simply came to the conclusion that "real social media" (friend-centric) was not a thing that many people needed or wanted. People moved frien

I think the market simply came to the conclusion that "real social media" (friend-centric) was not a thing that many people needed or wanted. People moved friend-to-friend communication to private messaging apps: FB Messenger, Whatsapp, Signal, Discord, etc. and that space is very alive and well. There is no great unfulfilled demand for a version of that which is also semi-public because then you get your public and private spheres mixed up. Younger users appear to have looked at the mistakes of older users and figured out that this is not the right move - they know that Tiktok/IG/etc. is fake and not friend based, the fakeness is sort of the point, they're there to watch the 2022 version of TV, and participate in a popularity contest and stroke the ego/receive affirmation from a Like count.