Social networks have ups and downs, and for the decentralised networks, which are the only ones I attend, the niche they build upon does influence what is going on. Hive is money in its foundation, Diaspora is tech and liberal policies, Mastodon is Woke, Hubzilla is geeky. For all that I would say that Steemit/Hive have been one of the best experiences as I have been in contact with so many interesting people that are not at the upper middle class tech savvy sort, and many creatives.
I do not think of the money at all any longer. To me it is a window for my art and a way to communicate with those who are interested.
I would say Mastodon is originally geeky rather than 'woke' (whatever people take that to mean). People come to Hive with different expectations. Originally it was lots of crypto folk, but creatives have followed them and now it's pretty diverse. I have always found most people to be welcoming.
As an artist you need to get your work where it will be seen. I am happy that I can find and support it here. I do not really want to have to visit lots of sites all the time.
Well geeky is also a pretty vague thing, but I think it goes for all the decentralised networks that a majority of the users are somehow into tech. Hive had a great influx of artist, creative, people from parts of the world that we normally do not see in the echo-chambers of other medias (including the tech-upper-middle-class of the federated medias).
But yes, I am and have been many places through the last 8-9 years, somehow it would be nice to actually be able to connect some of all those systems and accounts.