Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
Happy New Year Men.
2020 was a wild year, right?
COVID-19 turned the world upside down and completely redefined every aspect of our lives. Businesses sent most of us home for work and our social lives were radically upended. Society as we knew it ground to a halt, and by the end of March of last year, much of the western world began locking down to control the spread of COVID.
Newsflash, if you’re just now realizing that 2020 redefined the dating and relationship landscape radically, you’re in for a rude awakening.
For the first time in modern history, the world went completely online, meaning we had to depend on the internet for our collective survival. There’s a lot to be said about this specific topic but let’s primarily focus on how this affects your dating life.
In short: If you didn’t have an online presence before 2020, your social life was severely hindered. Since restaurants and bars (mostly) closed around the world, meeting new people – in particular girls – went entirely online. No longer could you, an average chump, go out with the hopes of hitting on girls at a bar. Now, you were relegated to exclusively meeting girls through dating apps or the occasional zoom call (gag).
On the one hand, all of you socially awkward dudes no longer had the pressure of performing in public, but on the other, most dudes have zero clue how to handle themselves online. To be quite frank, the full extent of our communication skills online can basically be reduced to shitposting on twitter, exchanging silly memes with your bros, and occasionally dropping a witty comment on some site like the Chive or Reddit.
And now, you’re telling me we can’t meet women in person and we’re forced to date through the internet? On top of that, in the rare case that one of you lucky bastards managed to convince a girl to come over to your apartment, the odds of you getting lucky were slim to none. How in the hell are you supposed to romance a girl in your shoebox studio in Manhattan if you can’t even fart without her smelling it?
Give me a fucking break… we’re in the middle of a global pandemic and the only action the average guy can get is with his hand?
The fate of our species is bleak as hell.
Unfortunately for most of us, 2021 doesn’t look like it’s going to be much different than the previous year. Most of the world will continue being locked down and there’s really no end in sight. We’re still all probably going to be doing zoom dates for the next few months.
If this hasn’t woken you up to the reality that you MUST revamp your online presence, let me state it clearly:
2020 was the first official year of the digital age.
Adapt or Die
What does this mean for the dating landscape going forward?
At this point in time, we’ve all grown accustomed to using dating apps/sites as one of our primary methods of sourcing dates. Despite what mom and dad say, you’re more likely to meet your future spouse on the internet than out in public. Since COVID-19 is still affecting a large part of the world, expect this to be your primary way of meeting girls. If you disagree, tough tits.
Dating has always been difficult, but Coronavirus changed the world and the way we interact with each other
Based on research (yea, research) I’ve run personally and through some readers of the site, it appears like women are increasingly accepting of meeting people through the internet. The following is pretty obvious:
Lockdown + horny people = meeting people online
Seriously, if you’re not on at least on all of the major dating apps (Tinder, Bumble, Hinge) you are missing out on a massive funnel system. You can even throw a few of the online sites (Match, eHarmony, OkCupid) onto the pile and you’ve basically set yourself up to have a subscription to Netchix. Additionally, if you figure out a good way to turn your social media platforms into dating funnels, you have access to 80%+ of all women in the dating pool.
How’s that for having an “abundance mindset”?
Beyond that, since anyone with half a brain figured out the same exact thing, it’s going to be increasingly important to develop a conscious strategy toward how you present yourself on social media and how you use dating apps/social media to achieve the dating goals that you want. Since the first impression you will give people is going to be through the internet, you will no longer get away with scrapbook photos that show you with your bros on a fishing trip or hanging out that one time you did that one cool thing. Again, those who can adapt to the increasingly digital landscape of the world stand to benefit in vast ways compared to anyone who does not adapt.
Based on personal experience, it would take the average guy a solid 3 months of effort to “rebrand” himself online, so if you get started on this now you’ll likely start reaping benefits by summer.
Skepticism is good
Right about now is where I hear the skeptics chime in saying the following:
“What if I can’t get any matches?”
Then you need to clean up your image on dating apps/social media, just like you would do in real life. This is obvious.
“What if I match with a girl but she doesn’t respond to my messages?”
Dating Apps/Social media are a high-speed and brutal version of “game” on the internet, where every single girl is bombarded by hundreds of dudes at any point in time. Learn to stick out or you will struggle here. Maybe I’ll put out a guide on this 😉
“What happens if I get along with a girl and I take her on a date but can’t close?”
Man, at this point you probably have a few sticking points that need some coaching, or you simply just need more reps. Go on a few more dates and get back to me on this one.
“Satori, this only applies while COVID is around. What comes afterwards?”
You know, this one is actually a good question. I think the world will revert back to normal a little bit. However, if you think about it, just like working from home will be adopted on a broader basis, so will meeting potential romantic partners on the internet become a standard. I think it’s a net positive to develop a strategy on how to date through the internet going forward since it’s certainly here to stay.