I gave each one a full month here, and it held up across all of them. Every time I compared them, how new accounts are treated in week one sets the ceiling on what you can achieve. The pattern repeated every time regardless of which city I set. Test it cheaply first on balance, so treat this as a starting point.

I spent longer on this than I meant to with a couple of accounts, instead of going on impressions. In practice whether photos are checked before publication matters far more in smaller places. The outcome barely moved quite plainly across a reasonable sample. I would start there honestly, depending on where you are.

What is worth five minutes of checking:

  • How the app orders your inbox
  • How much profile depth the format allows
  • How hard the interface pushes a subscription — I underestimated this at first.
  • Whether there is a web version as well as an app — it decided things for me.
  • Find out how easily you can change your location — it matters more after the first month.

I have changed my mind on this twice before deciding, and it was more revealing than I expected. The honest answer is that the size of the local pool changes noticeably month to month. The result was similar quite plainly once I had a few weeks of data. Treat it as a starting point frankly, and nothing more than that.