Thoughtful and empathetic conversations is something few people want though. People like controversy and to some degree toxicity. So any new microbloging platform that wants to reach the user base of Twitter will have to turn into a version of Twitter at some point.
I suppose it's hard to have vitality+engagement and more tame discussion at the same time.
I like Mastodon, because it doesn't chase growth at all costs, but chooses to foster well-behaved communities (it's more like connected phpBB forums than Twitter). I can talk to a random stranger and actually share ideas, instead of getting caught in a loop of outrage and dunking.
