By taking it out of the commercial sphere altogether. The most ancient networks on the planet, religious institutions, do it pretty well still. There's a world that's perfectly within reach where decentralized social networks have organizations/chapters in every city, town, are funded on a need basis by lifelong members based on their means and ideally other diverse sources including public funds, take on active social roles that actually deserve that adjective, and so on.
To me the funny thing is that isn't particularly utopian given how many networks operate literally like that right now, it just takes one mental switch imagining yourself not as some passive consumer and everything you use as a product.
> The most ancient networks on the planet, religious institutions, do it pretty well still.
Do they? What do you think has more impact today in the formation of a teenager living in Greece: the Orthodox Church or TikTok?
The problem to me is not so much the lack of existent alternative networks, but the sheer dominance of the shitty networks over the majority of the population. Even those who try to refuse engaging in these networks still have their lives affected by them.
To me the funny thing is that isn't particularly utopian given how many networks operate literally like that right now, it just takes one mental switch imagining yourself not as some passive consumer and everything you use as a product.