They want to be authoritarians, whatever flavor they have to be to have power.
They don't want anyone else to have power over them.
So when they're in the out group, they'll ramp up the persecution narrative, and when they're in power, they'll ruthlessly repress everyone else.
All makes internal sense, if you're an asshole.
It's social media in the technical definition - it's a place to view media, both entertainment and news, with commentary, groups, the ability to follow someone, etc. Which makes it social.
But yeah, it's not quite like Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn. A little bit like Twitter though.