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The mistake was to commit to a system where social connections are only maintained / allowed to exist if they are profitable for an intermediary.

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As opposed to not having those social connections?

As opposed to recognizing these problems ahead of time, and instead creating a (public?) system for forming these social networks that doesn't need to monetize. One that wouldn't be corrupted by the needs for ever-increasing profits.

I don't mean for that system to necessarily be a full replacement for the social networks we have now, but I'd argue there's room for something like a public alternative to them.

Free systems always excited and and continue to do so. Commit to them. Correct the mistake. If committing to them doesn't fix the mistake, then the choice was to have the social connections you wanted or not to. And given those choices, and what you want, choosing social media isn't a mistake.

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