Even if you start building an audience it's a long and tedious process because you have to write well consistently for 6-12 months before anyone starts discovering you on, say Twitter.
One of the main reasons that protocols from the early internet have faded in comparison to centralized platforms is the business model issue. Having your own platform (if it catches on) has been a model that appears to print lots of money for the companies. However, building and maintaining a protocol has long been a struggle.