Seeking perspective on a 2-month connection and mixed signals

Hi everyone,

I need some perspective. I (27) met a guy (32) from Norway on Slowly app. He has a master's degree but is currently dealing with unemployment, so I know he's going through a bit of a tough time. After a month of great letters, he repeatedly asked to move to Instagram to "get closer." I didn't even have an IG account, but I created one just for him.

On Slowly, he loved my avatar and asked for a real photo. On our first day on IG, I explained that I wear a headscarf (specifically a modern bandana style) for personal and religious reasons. I want to emphasize that I am a modern, well-educated woman living in a secular Balkan country. My lifestyle is no different from a typical European’s; choosing to wear this piece of fabric is entirely a personal choice, not a legal or societal obligation here.

He was shocked, saying he’d never known a person of faith in his life and never expected me to be religious. The dynamic shifted immediately. On Slowly, he used to say, "Now I have a reason to visit your country" and was eager for video calls. After learning about my faith, he became much less demanding and more distant. I want to clarify that I am not a conservative person, nor do I try to preach my faith to others. Similarly, he is not the type to impose his atheism on anyone. Our difference in belief isn't a source of conflict; it was just simply something that surprised him.

I genuinely feel that he is a wonderful person, and I’m willing to take responsibility for the distance. If our connection grows, I am open to traveling to his country regularly, and he would be welcome in mine. To me, the distance is manageable because he feels worth the effort.

Since moving to IG, things feel different. The "slow" pace of the app was charming, but now I find myself overthinking the interaction and feeling a bit confused about the nature of our communication. I’ve started to develop feelings, and while I’ve been honest about it, the uncertainty is still there.

Despite this, I really like his character. Being a bold and honest person, I recently told him: "I’ve started to like you romantically and I’d like to get to know you in that sense." He rejected me, saying distance makes it hard, yet he continues to follow several "cool, high-quality" girls from different countries on IG and adds new ones. But his account is not crowded. He is a selective person.

But I feel like a piece of a "collection" rather than someone special. I told him I needed time to think about continuing the contact to protect my self-respect.

Has anyone else experienced this shift after leaving the app? How do you handle the change in dynamic when you move from letters to real-time social media after a month of writing? I’d love to hear your stories or any advice you might have.

My questions:

1. Should I unfollow and cut contact completely? Would that make me look weak or strong?
2. Or should I continue as if nothing happened, even though I fear seeing him start a relationship with someone else?
3. I can't help but wonder if distance is truly the only reason. Why was he so eager to visit my country when we were only writing letters, but lost that excitement after moving to IG? I wonder if there are unspoken reasons he's not telling me. Could it be that he perceives an incompatibility due to my faith/lifestyle, even though it's not a source of conflict for us? Or is he just keeping his options open by talking to many different girls at once?
4. During the time we've been talking, he has added a few more new girls to his Instagram. From what I understand, he meets people on Slowly and moves the ones he likes to his IG. Does this mean he is constantly 'on the hunt' or looking for someone better? It feels like I'm just one of the many options he's keeping on the side while he continues his search. Am I enough?
5. I’ve only known him for two months, but I genuinely believe he is a good person. At least, that is my current impression. I don’t want to lose him. Do you think I should continue talking to him and give him more time to get to know me better? He said he isn't looking for anything romantic right now, but is it possible his feelings might change as he gets to know the real me? Or am I just wasting my time waiting for something that might never happen?