I think you might have misunderstood what I was saying. I wasn't saying "stop using social networks because the biggest one sucks." I was suggesting that the social network is in and of itself unnecessary, and it's just been marketed to us as a staple of our lives rather than an add-on.

I grew up without social networks. Hell, spent half my life without internet. Subsequently, I remember life without them. It was a lot like life with them, only with less corporate interests directly watching and commenting on what I do. Furthermore, I've seen a steady succession of networks such as the ones you mentioned rise and crash. Myspace, Friendster, Google Plus (hah), now Facebook, soon Ello. What does it tell you that the internet keeps on spawning and then discarding one social network after another? To me, it implies a deep-seated dissatisfaction with the notion of the Social Network: there's an itch that such networks just can't scratch. Myspace is for losers, man, Facebook is where it's at. Facebook is stale, come to Ello, we won't spy on you as much. Ello doesn't have enough dedicated users, use FriendBot. All of this growing from the root notion that somehow a social network must exist for our social lives to be complete. But that's bunk.

So when you say:

If no one ever decided to go against the grain and start using a better platform just because the rest of their friends weren't on it, no one would have ever moved on from Friendster, MySpace, whatever earlier ones I'm missing

it rather sidesteps my point. Maybe it's time to go against the grain and just discard the idea that social networks are vital to cultivating friendships.