I don't know if ice cream is the best metaphor. You obtain the ice cream, you eat the ice cream, you excrete the ice cream. End of saga. But social media is something you invest time and information in. You build a reputation, you form relationships with others, yada yada. You don't just stop eating the ice cream like you haven't made any commitment.

That's a pretty problematic analogy.

When someone says he will publish your book and pay you but once the book is popular he will stick his content in the middle of it and redesign it...

The last decade has taught us to expect enshittification and we can only be left to wonder how quickly they'll execute on that process. How terrible can they make the product, without you leaving, is the min/max profitability optimization.

I won't eat free anything anywhere because I don't want to give something else up in exchange.

Free ice cream is the wrong metaphor. Think more in terms of cheese and mouse trap.

Yea. The same scheme heroin dealers use.