> they often don't zap or boost, they just *like* or reply.

That's not necessarily an issue.

I'm skeptical of the idea that monetary incentives work better than these kinds of social incentive, which are part of what social media are for.

Consider Reddit and Hive. Hive (one of the few with this name) is a blockchain used for social networking which gives people monetary incentives. Reddit only gives you Reddit karma.

While Reddit has become worse for different reasons, I think one reason Reddit was better than Hive is precisely the fact that posts were not made for monetary incentives.