The problem is that network effects are everything

You are using a relic of what-used-to-be-Twitter. That's what people signed up for. I happen to think what Musk has done - although I'm highly skeptical of him - is not totally insane - Twitter did used to have some pretty notable censorship. But you follow people because that's where the people are. Competition does not spring up overnight, companies know this, and so they're left to gradually (or quickly!) enshittify

"easy to view only posts from the people I follow, in reverse chronological order"

Yes, well. That should be the standard. Companies that don't follow that standard should be turned into pariahs