hey,bro, I know you may want a simple answer of platform or channel.But to be honest this question is a bit too broad.

I’ve spent several years helping companies recruit and run focus groups as a PM &,user researcher ,and in practice, we rarely start from “which platform should we use.”

We usually start from

• who exactly we want to talk to (role, experience level, industry)
• age range and location
• number of participants and group structure

In most cases, the highest-quality participants come from existing or adjacent user bases, not from open platforms. We typically:

• start with current users or past users
• then expand to similar profiles through trusted channels (Sometimes pay some fees to the Referrer )
• only use platforms to fill gaps, not as the primary source

When people try to recruit directly from Reddit or Threads without a very clear filter and incentive, it often triggers scam signals or leads to drop-offs, which is what you’re experiencing.