Is the fediverse a new social network or a concept? I think there is hope for it as a general concept if, for example, the US government gets mad at someone like Facebook and requires them and other social networks/messaging platforms to make their content available through standard interfaces. It could be something like RSS for posts and other appropriate standards for chat, audio calls, video calls, etc. Then someone on [insert fledgling social network here] could "follow" someone on Facebook and someone on What's App could text someone on WeChat.