I'm going to use my own example because it's pretty telling. I have used Facebook even after I started loathing them for their abusive business practices, because I didn't have another way to stay in contact with many people on Facebook. It was only when Facebook forcibly froze my account and made demands I couldn't bear to comply with that I looked into using Diaspora, an alternative I already knew about but had no good incentive to use.

If I had had another way to stay in contact with people on Facebook, like through open protocols, I believe I would have left much earlier, even for a less snappy interface like Friendica's. You are right that most people aren't ready to leave responsive interfaces for something more experimental, but the current situation also prevents people who wouldn't mind crappier interfaces from making the move by relying on the private network effect.