It is important to realize that centralized #socnets‘ userbases do not prevent some of those users from opening accounts on #federated networks. Just as many #lockiverse users have accounts on multiple sites ( #Facebook, !Twitter, #GPlus, #Instagram, <insert centralized socnet here> ), they could keep their centralized accounts and still use !GnuSocial or other #federated socnets. The “my friends are all there” argument assumes that people only use one, which is not true for many people.