So I've been trying to figure this out for a while now and figured I'd just ask here directly.
Safety and privacy are also big concerns for me. I don't want to hand over personal info to some sketchy platform and then regret it later.
The free tiers on most of what I've tried are basically useless. You get just enough to see that real people are there, then hit a wall the second you try to actually message anyone.
Feel free to share whatever has worked for you, even if it's not the obvious answer.