> I know this association would absolutely sink my friends exploring the platform further while we're exploring alternatives for when Google Hangouts is decommissioned.
Should there be such rooms (that still fall short of being removed for "abuse") you're not forced to join them. No different than you not joining Google Hangouts full of people you'd rather not talk to.
Chat systems like IRC/Element don't force you to join and speak with anyone you don't want to unlike social media sites which try to have literally everyone in the same pool.
If your standard is "people I don't like are able to use this service" you will find no service that will have 0% of said people.
Matrix's policies are pretty well enough to keep them pretty far out of contention for such a comparison https://matrix.org/legal/code-of-conduct#definitions
> I know this association would absolutely sink my friends exploring the platform further while we're exploring alternatives for when Google Hangouts is decommissioned.
Should there be such rooms (that still fall short of being removed for "abuse") you're not forced to join them. No different than you not joining Google Hangouts full of people you'd rather not talk to.
Chat systems like IRC/Element don't force you to join and speak with anyone you don't want to unlike social media sites which try to have literally everyone in the same pool.
If your standard is "people I don't like are able to use this service" you will find no service that will have 0% of said people.