Hey, @aussieninja.
It's interesting that you mention Tik Tok, since it's by far the newest of the group you mention. Users seem to go to the next big thing, and in the case of Tik Tok, it's taken over for something else before it, just as Facebook did. Twitter and Instagram have yet to have serious contenders.
It seems to be that once those competitors show up and prove to be stable and interactive enough, people start making the shift. As big as those four are, it will take some doing, but maybe a crypto based social media app is what people will finally gravitate to.
In my mind it makes sense... who doesn't love earning while doing what they enjoy?
The eyeballs on traditional social media sites are intoxicating for a lot of people, so we kind of need to make a cultural shift towards "10 superfans > 10,000 fans" - ie, 10 people upvoting you is far more exciting that 10,000 just seeing your content.
I definitely agree with the idea that people upvoting your content is much more valuable than people just seeing your content, to whatever extent they may see it. That would seem to be a no-brainer, and yet, as you so aptly put it, it does require a cultural shift.