[joshuamorton]

On the other hand "consumers choose our products even though there are other free alternatives" does.

[908087]

These platforms have been coasting on network effects alone for years. The "I'd quit but I have no other way to stay in touch with (friends/family/whoever)." / "but all my (whoever) are on it" justifications you constantly see from people are evidence to support that.

[joshuamorton]

Yes, email and web-search, the peak of consumer-side vendor lock in.

Indeed, networks effects may sometimes be relevant to some of these tools. But that's certainly not always true.