Social media won because it is better and more profitable for the producer/site owner.
It is objectively worse for the consumer:
* Algorithms that push content the user didn't ask for/dark patterns
* Prioritizes low-attention span/doomscrolling
* Magnifies the most virulent outrage-driven content, often by the very people that commit the outrage, and profits from that outrage
Social media as currently implemented by everyone is a cancer.
Like I said, these are negative internalities. I don't think most users care about these negative impacts on themselves.
I don't think you were there when the switch started to happen in the mid 2000s.
All these are things which came after they "won".