I've never claimed it was a replacement, it's a new experience focused on what I believe is a shortcoming with current social media sites in that they aren't optimized for live discussion.

For instance you mention "debate the finer points of various aspect ratios". Current social networks are not very good for actual debate, in fact the genesis of Sqwok can be traced to a live debate in r/worldnews where I grew tired of refreshing the page. Many of the alternatives popping up for both Twitter & Reddit are cloning the underlying data model and user interface without offering much more.

Sqwok is different in that it couples some of the familiar aspects of existing social networking with high quality instant messaging, designed from the ground up for live public debate and discussion in a new format. Still has a long way to go but I believe there's a place for it.