Literally had to unfollow a bunch of them.. it’ll sneak a few followings occasionally and I’m like “oh who is you?” while scrolling 🤣

It is indeed kinda funny but for me it makes sense to have seed profiles followed, even if they’re not nearby, just to build an initial feed. What’s not so funny is that for this app to work well for finding people nearby and connecting in real life, it would need a large base of active users, meaning that most users would have to use it as much as they use instagram or even replace it all together and sadly, I don’t see that happening anytime soon. What I see is most people stick to Instagram, share a link to their profile there, and only occasionally check this app before eventually forgetting about it. That leads to a huge chunk of inactive users and stalled chats, and essentially their profiles on Collective are functioning as ads for their IG profiles (that also happens a lot with Tinder and other dating apps). I’ve followed nearby profiles only to find out many haven’t been active for months, since they’re clearly using Instagram instead. To be clear, I don’t like Instagram, I refuse to use it because, among other reasons, I don’t feel safe sharing personal stuff there for everyone to see, but the sad truth is that it has become THE social app, everyone refers you to it and that’s very difficult if not impossible to change.

@petrichor I hardly use Instagram, so I doubt I’ll end up using this much more, despite the concept of having more nearby gay friends being really appealing. It so far seems to be the same as any social app, where guys are mostly just showing off their bodies and like-farming, even when their profile is set to “friends only”. I like the look of a handsome or sexy man as much as the next gay guy, but is it really that unattractive to share interests rather than torsos? 🤷‍♂️

@aaronhale well that’s them.. I don’t really try to interact with those types 🤣 I do like this platform more so than instagram on building some connections. Give or take, you’ll find guys in your city with more substance. Potentially even some good friends. I found a few in my city that I would have never interacted in the first place. Your profile can be whatever you like, doesn’t have to be shirtless torsos (Im kinda guilty too though I post a few thirsts just for myself lmao) like a little mix of what I like, even had a few commenting about my passion of Art, Astrology, and my little nerdy interests haha

@scorpius Fingers crossed. Maybe once I’ve managed to unfollow all the torsos that it auto-followed for me, my feed will look a bit less thirsty and a bit more nerdy haha

@aaronhale That’s a very interesting question but I think it’s more of a social matter and not just a social media matter. As you said, any social app these days is inundated by thirst traps. Is it because the algorithms favor posts like that or because what most users share and interact with? I think it’s the latter because the algorithms cater to what most users want in the first place. So if you prefer not seeing so many torsos you probably have to use the dislike button a lot, because I don’t think any app like Collective facing already this much competition from huge platforms are going to shoot themselves in the foot by making their algorithm actively favor posts that are more niche and less engaging to most users. I’m not saying you’re wrong for wanting that (and I’d love it as well), I just think it’s kind of unrealistic expecting it in this day and age 🤷‍♂️

Fact lol

I will say…I have gone abroad and met many collective friends irl. And it has been such a treat.

@petrichor That’s a good point. I think maybe I was expecting a bit too much from how this app was advertised to me, being about connecting and sharing interests. It still tracks that the gym selfies and abs are being suggested initially, as that’s the stuff that’s getting a lot of engagement. Fingers crossed the algorithm will catch up soon enough 🤞

@keith_lucky I love that! At the moment, my priority is to make in-person connections that will last beyond just a visit every few months/years, which is where my surprise/disappointment at the “recommended” global follows came in.

Yes but making international friends is just as fun, I love talking to people that aren’t from NYC, there’s different energy and personalities.