The saying goes if you’re not the customer, you’re the product. Now, you’re both. Every big social media app is testing subscriptions. It's a business model that comes with a perverse incentive. Just like airlines, if you make life worse, more people will pay.
If that's how you connect with a certain community it's not a serious option to stop using that kind of social media without solving the collective action problem of getting that whole community to switch.
I'm over here on lemmy giving it a go, but it is a real challenge.