I kind of suspect the loud voices frustrated at Mastodon and declaring it dead or an echo chamber are doing so because they cannot find a way to rig the system in their favour or pay to win like Twitter.
@Rycochet from the people I've talked to IRL that tried it and not liked it the common thread seems to be that other platforms give you "more engagement"
i.e. "people see my posts faster"
i.e. "the gratification was more instant"