Is this the place to channel my dislike for Telegram?
No end to end encryption by default, impossible for groups, usually a lot of traffic (messages), but pretty low quality.
If someone wants to "connect on telegram", it's like if they told me they trust in fiat. No full judgement, but it needs to be strongly overbalanced with something for me to care. And no, I won't connect on telegram.
Here's a look at some alternatives (I recommend part one too):