do I have to make do with these platforms I don't like
Well, for me personally, the beauty of being a hobbyist is that we don't really have to make do with any platform we don't particularly like - we can just leave off it and concentrate on developing things we enjoy, without the need for any external promotion at all. Unlike the folk who've spent money developing stuff and must make it back, I don't think I've ever suffered a loss not being on Instagram, Tiktok or Facebook. 🤔
Though, if it helps, you can try Reddit if you like. Granted, it is a big platform, but it's also discussion-based and the scope of our posts are usually only limited to a certain sub unless someone decides to cross-post it, so you can just hang around the small communities and post there. There are numbers involved, as per most platforms - karma - though that's negligible at best and doesn't hinder discussion or feedback in general. I've gotten some good feedback for two of my fangames there. The only original story of mine that got a number of visits from there was "The Swordsman Who Lost His Nipples", though, so I can't vouch for it 100% when it comes to serious stuff.
Alternatively, I'm also on Tumblr, which is smaller and more intimate than, say, Twitter. An interesting part of Tumblr culture is that folk who reblog our posts also tend to add "micro-comments" in their tagging system, making their reblogs a lot more personal. The site is slow and laggy at times, but the upside is that you can post pictures and format text there. It's customizable too, to a degree. In terms of promotion... just like Reddit, I've only seen my fangames do well there. My original stuff kinda gets ignored. (EDIT: I do see writers use Tumblr to get their works out, though. Maybe give it a go to find other writers there?)
That said, I do tend to prefer engaging in fast-moving platforms like Twitter. Twitter as a platform is exciting when it comes to speed, and I get to respond very quickly to other people's posts too. The best bit is that most posts are short and concise, and that facilitates rapid-fire replies, which adds to more replies from folk who see them in their own timelines. For folk like myself who're restless and like chatting others up, it's a pretty nifty platform to be on. My experience on Twitter has been good, even if I've slowed down lately due to login issues. I don't get too many clicks for original stuff there, but my fangame posts did balloon up like crazy.
As far as I know, though, self-published original games, art and stories can be pretty hard to promote on social media, even on the slower ones. Your best bet may be to join a Discord server and reach out to fellow developers. Some developers have a following that's comprised mostly of other developers. If it's "genuine" non-dev players we want, it's market research that we'd need to do before even making our game, let alone promoting it. That part's just as tricky as finding the right social media platform for it.
Good luck!