The thing about art trades is, I really enjoy them, but with the caveat that I enjoy them when I can be selective. like. As an artist, I tend to be pretty picky about what art I get when I do get the choice, and I approach art trades as a space where I do have that choice.
But I would also feel awful if someone messaged me out of interest in doing an art trade and I had to tell them no because their style isn't what I'm looking for. Especially if it were a mutual. I don't know that there's a non-asshole way to open art trades without snubbing friends.
Toyhouse forums work well for me because I can keep them businesslike—it's mostly strangers I encounter on those, and I can state from the get-go that I'm taking an exclusive approach—"I will only message you if I want to trade", so I'm telling people to assume I'm not interested unless they get a message in their inbox.
No clue how people do trades on a platform like Twitter. Maybe I need to lower my expectations and stop being picky?