The problem #1 with modern social media services is their obsession over engagement metrics. This is the root cause of all evil: the forced algorithmic feeds, the recommendations you can't opt out of, the deliberately convoluted UIs for simple things, the dark patterns, and so on. Fediverse doesn't have this problem.

Now, different software aims at different things. Mastodon wants this whole "instance is a community" with its public feeds. In Smithereen, instances offer infrastructure and moderation, and that's it. I'm aiming to make a cozy place for people to connect with friends and with people with similar interests — exactly what VKontakte was in the '00s. I'm actually going to have a way to link your VK profile and import your VK data such that the switching experience is as smooth as possible.

I'm not going to encourage a particular type of communication. I'm giving people a capable, easy to use tool, and it's up to them to figure out what to use it for.