This is a good point and I see the turn off of "pay for this and hope your friends will too." This is the sort of feedback I was looking for - would someone buy this then ask their friends to do the same or is that too much to ask?
If all have to buy a copy, the decision to buy would become a collective one which the chance of buying this app would be even lower.
Further, as this is the first app by the author, there is no track record as a reference.
Hope you understand my reasoning for why social apps should be free at least at the beginning.