... when they are created.
Social networks are inherently evil, that's their business model: manipulate users into addiction and serve ads.
How do non-evil social networks look like? They're forums, plain old forums.
But you don't become an ultra trillionaire with PhpBB.
Nowadays they are an evil manipulation mess, but I don't think it is an inherit property of social networks.
Phase 2: profit (through using and abusing their users).
Both steps are written in stone in their business plan on day 1, you just don't know it.
As a user you were still in phase 1.
Similar story with image hosting websites. First they don't have ads and load fast and don't really have image restrictions. Then they start adding restrictions and ads.
Before this, we had centuries of businesses who were sustainable by just charging a fair premium on the goods they sold to their customers, and both sides were happy enough with the transaction to continue.
You'll never get enough traction to break through to the mainstream, unless something radical changes.
What's evil about Mastodon, Matrix, Pleroma, diaspora, etc?
I don't know anyone using any of those networks.