A lot of technically sound solutions in this space simply lack the addictive quality to draw in the crowds. Instagram and similarly popular networks, for all their flaws, are designed from the ground up to exploit human nature. If you sit on any form of public transport, you can see this in action. People obsessively checking whatever networks they are on.

Anything lacking that addictive quality is not going to come close to disrupting the established players. That takes more than people geeking out over protocols or raging against ads and powerlessly waving their fists at the big FANG bullies.

Money for example. It takes a lot of cash to get anything decent off the ground. People working on some low level protocols in their spare time doesn't get the job done. Whenever money is involved, power follows. And people with power will raise barriers to protect and nurture that power. That's how walled gardens are created.

The counter move here is to get organized with a foundation and make sure that gets funded properly. That has worked extremely well for a range of OSS projects. The Linux Foundation, the Apache Foundation, the Eclipse Foundation, WikiMedia, etc. The list is quite long. But fundamentally any time investor cash gets involved, walled gardens are a foregone conclusion.