Same here. Telegram does not suggest contacts, groups or anything else to you. If you see wackos it's because you have them in your contact list.

It's the only IM I have used that works most of the time, is not Google or Meta, is free and is easy enough to get working for normies.

I'd use IRC, XMPP or Matrix but then I cannot contact the non-tech friends I want to chat with from time to time.