The saying goes if you’re not the customer, you’re the product. Now, you’re both. Every big social media app is testing subscriptions. It's a business model that comes with a perverse incentive. Just like airlines, if you make life worse, more people will pay.
I live in a major city in the US and it’s definitely common place here. A lot of women justifiably don’t like giving out their personal number due to the number of bad experiences with men. By using IG instead, it provides a buffer.
I have asked for and received numbers but most people typically offer some sort of social media first and then only share numbers after you’ve shown that you’re not a raging creep.
Sounds weird to me as both can be used for the general creepiness and both allow blocking people if needed. I just don’t see the benefit of one over the other here.
EDIT: The other comment explained it to me, I understand it now.
Also depends on how you explain why you don’t have any, I originally gave up Facebook because I went through a bad breakup and figured a break would be for the best, the only time I ever logged in again was to delete it, Instagram came shortly after. I don’t think I’ve asked for anyone’s number that told me no after telling them why I’m difficult to Google, and in my experience most people treat social media the way a 20 year smoker treats cigarettes, they know they should quit and intend to at some nebulous point in the future