Creating your own is another valid act, which I mentioned in the comment section for one of your posts. I'd consider how you present it would be your approach, or at lesst at the level I meant(the communication). I'm very interested in such a project.
I agree that 'as is' Hive cannot be decentralized. That being the case, forks/updates are possible to change this. The benefit of this approach is better understanding for the userbase by an ongoing campaign and if successful, starting off with a ready-made userbase.
Growth of a new platform will be very slow and require many to make a new home, which the majority are resistant to, unfortunately. That being said, a new platform further decentralizes the social sphere even more.
I wish you luck and hope to be kept in the loop. Will you be sharing your progress here or elsewhere. Note: I don't/won't use neither discord nor telegram...