I hate online dating. The best partners I've ever met came to me through a combination of magic, luck and good timing. My first two girlfriends just happened in my life, I didn't control it, didn't really have to be anything but myself, spit any "game", whatever. I just met them and the sparks flew.

These days it feels so hard to meet women. Can any older posters here comment on this? I'm 21 now and meeting women was a lot easier in high school, but now I definitely feel like women of the same value look over me more. I'll also freely admit I don't get out enough, and my hobbies are very male-centric.

"Cold approaching" feels like bullshit. Maybe if you're trying to get laid, sure, but there's no way waving my dick at every woman I come into contact with can be good for my reputation. At the same time, online dating has made dating feel so impersonal to a depressing degree. It's literally a free for all. You can talk to a girl for forever and suddenly she's blocked you (I'm guilty of the same). It's a fucking mess. You can't show the world who you are through pictures. I grew up saying "don't judge a book by its cover" yet that's all it feels like people do. Was it always this way? Have I been naive and optimistic?

Wdu guys think?