Apple to apple comparisons are boring anyway 😂🙈. I think there is a barrier of entry when switching from mainstream networks to non-mainstream. Thus people who do the switch early and take that initial "risk", are more likely to show anti-swarm behaviour. I assume the larger the network grows, the lesser the barrier of entry, the larger the swarm behaviour (popularity contest).

But yeah, you are right about the algorithm / shadow-banning, those do the rest to enforce monopolies and suppress new ideas on mainstream networks 🙈..