Nothing you say is wrong, it’s all factual and correct and if the majority of people were wired the way you are I think the world would be a better place. As is though, I think the amount of work Mastodon expects you to put in seems exhausting and off-putting to most people. I know it does me. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze. The discussion isn’t really about the virtues of each social media platform, the question is why does Bluesky appear at the top of the list and not Mastodon. And the reason is that Mastodon refuses to provide the service most people want from a platform like this: a well-tuned suggestion algorithm. In doing so they maintain purity and a sort of moral high ground, but will always struggle with mass appeal. Most people don’t care about what’s good for them, they only care about their end user experience.
Treating it responsibly in this case would mean actually offering a recommendation algorithm that is free of corporate interest, then. To go along with your own simile, you can’t really go up to a junkie and say “Hey, you should really consider giving up heroin and having a salad instead. It’s better for you.” and expect it to be a convincing argument. Which is why Bluesky is succeeding and Mastodon isn’t.