If asked, people tend to prefer getting everything for free on a silver platter. That doesn't mean it's workable, even assuming we could come up with enough silver to get everyone their own platter.
I'll take my free stuff on a machine-stamped tray of 316 steel. I don't need anything fancy, just so long as it's piled high with the fulfillment of my every desire, provided completely gratis.
Now that you mention it, I think I would like a silver platter. Just put it on the steel one. Actually, make it two, so I can still use one while the other is being polished. And have a silver polisher bring the next tray. And make sure she has read Dune, and has a D.V.M. with a specialty in herpetology.
What's that? My choices are actually between a gaping stab wound and a turd sandwich? I'll take the sandwich, I guess....
It's a little more complicated than that. Many consumers of these services don't realize that they've made the bargain of trading privacy for cat photos. Even the ones that do may not fully understand what they've given up.
I'm reminded of the news story a few years ago where Target effectively broke news of a teen pregnancy to the girl's dad.[0] I doubt the teen realized that by shopping at Target she was agreeing to divulge information about her teen pregnancy, but that was the deal she brokered when she bought lotion and prenatal vitamins using a credit card instead of cash.
That really doesn't sound much different than people not understanding they could have bought an identical panel TV at half price if they just bought a different brand. Information asymmetry makes some people rich.
People wanted social services, the ability to watch cat videos yesterday, and to not have to pay anything for it.
Other people wanted money for those services. So a trade happened.
This is like asking "In your manstion, did you really want to pay $10,000,000 for it?" Sure it would have been nice to have a free mansion.