Recommendation engines break or change every sprint on every app, so I am surprised your community had this issue, but not sure your conclusions are really the direction of these platforms.

Either way, I don't see those as problems or a market gap people want.

Many groups just share a google form or spreadsheet. Accurate observation that this is something that would work even if we were just using old instant message apps since a list of screennames could be shared just as well. But since you already had an existing community to transport, its not a problem there and not a problem I see in my own communities.

The community didn’t have an issue themselves. They weren’t going out of their way at all to find one another. I have an interest in connecting the community members though. What I saw from many years for myself and based on who others follow/are social media friends with is that the FB connections were far higher than the IG or tiktok ones.

Not all communities or links of people will be the same. For example if someone is a 20-something who went to university, they won’t run into any issues yet, they are too young and experienced the world mostly being with a ton of other cohort people.

> None of these apps are intended to solve your loneliness crisis

> What do you mean? Are you okay?

There is a well documented loneliness epidemic. Thought you were referring to it inadvertently by fawning over an old form of technology.

Yeah I agree there’s a documented loneliness epidemic. You used “your” the first time with me. Which I found strange. Looking now, I seem to have engaged in assuming bad faith. My apologies.

Tho no I wasn’t referring to it in terms of comparing the aughts with now. I do believe in the loneliness epidemic. However not that it has gotten so much worse in 15 years.