I've been on social media since 1996- long before it was even known as social media. I was among the earliest FB users- back when it was only open to Harvard, Stanford, and a few other schools. Several good friends + long-time acquaintances were early employees at FB, LinkedIn, Yahoo, AOL, among others. I've served on advisory boards for Twitter and Doximity.
Speaking from decades of experience: Mastodon isn't unique. It's exactly where it should be at this stage in its development.