@Cheri I think people initially used it more mostly because it was new and shiny. Networks at scale must include all sorts of things that a lot of people will dislike, otherwise they are not networks at scale and will inevitably change into smaller networks. I know it's an uncomfortable thought for people who have had good things come out of Twitter -- I have struggled with this myself -- but I think there is now plenty of evidence to suggest that the so-called town square idea simply does not work for the vast majority of individual and personal use.

It just took some time before it became obvious enough to see.

I think shared comment spaces (the town square idea) can work fine, just not in the silo framework.