@rauschma thank you for the good article that highlights the problems! I actively work on the problem (data and identity ownership) with my team. We decided to build from scratch and solve the fundamental flaws in social digital interaction. There are several fundamental rules on which our work is based:
1. Content-addressable.
2. DiD
3. Relative friendly names (everyone is a root).
And the properties:
1. Protocol agnostic
2. Freedom of posting any content.
3. Free from spam and unwanted content.
Yes, the network allows #2 and #3 to coexist.
It's completely decentralized and distributed. It's less like blockchain and more like global Git.