Having tried (and failed) to build a more privacy friendly social network, I can confidently tell you that the big players in this space do the shady things the

Having tried (and failed) to build a more privacy friendly social network, I can confidently tell you that the big players in this space do the shady things they do solely because users reward them for doing so. Trying to grow a new product is super hard. Trying to move into an established market is even harder. Trying to do that while also foregoing all the dark patterns is … well I won’t say it’s impossible but ugh it would take a huge head start in terms of name recognition, funding, or something else truly extraordinary.