Nonetheless, they’ll probably get away with it, because other than among a handful of autistic furries, there’s no demand for non-algorithmic, non-enshittified social networks.

The celebrities and brand-builders who use Instagram to grow their brand aren’t switching to Pixelfed or Misskey because, without algorithms boosting them, there’s no clout to be had. Artists, indie bands, vintage clothing sellers and other self-marketers are staying put for similar reasons. (Basically, if your goal is “self-promote at scale and hope to make ends meet” rather than “find a handful of weird friends with the same kind of damage as you”, the fediverse is worse than useless: it’s lost time and effort with nothing to show for it.) Your normie friends, who want to keep up with their favourite pop stars and tattoo artists and have a busy schedule without an extra 15 minutes a day for a social network few people use, aren’t going to add Pixelfed to their dopamine loops.