In my case the algorithm bored the heck out of me. I stopped using Facebook since 2015. Even the youtube algorithm has started boring me now and I am happy with newpipe.
I just started using Mastodon. It's been around 10 days or so. I am already having a lot of good engagement there. I guess "no algorithm" works best for me. I used to get bored of scrolling twitter or even reddit within 15 minutes or so. On Mastodon on certain days I can easily spend 45 minutes or more.
I agree with you on this. According to me the writing and character work is subpar and so I have stayed away from other works by the author. But this series is very popular and I don't get why that is the case.
I like your username.