>When MS bought github many people moved to gitlab and started to advertise their gitlab IDs. I too put my gitlab in there. But ultimately, gitlab didn't catch on on a permanent basis: most devs still are on github, thanks to network effects. People removed their gitlab mentions.

That's some way of equivocating very different situations. Gitlab is a product/platform for developers, not the general public, and Mastodon has received the public's positive attention for much longer than people talked about the buyout.

You don't see HN users belittling Signal because it failed to come even close to replacing Whatsapp's 2B users. In fact the opposite is the case as fanboying the former goes so far that Matrix as the even better alternative is repeatedly argued against.

What you're talking about is exactly the ridiculousness of the situation. People around the world are forced to rely on foreign platforms to communicate and can't leave unless their community follows. This design is the issue, not a particular business.