Pandemic Dating for College Students

[inquisitor]

As a new member, here is a thought process I have as a college student in Asia thinking of how to deal with dating during today's pandemic scenario. I also have a couple questions that can serve as discussion topics and food-for-thought.

After reading a couple threads here, I do agree about working to improve ourselves while the vaccine is still underway. Learning new skills, improving past skills, exercising, getting enough food and sleep, and numerous self-improvement actions are definitely worth it.

However, I simply cannot imagine how current dating in real life will be able to work the way it has been for the past decades. With the advent of masks and social distancing, it will be harder for men to observe cues in women that signal interest. Given that 80% of men are betas/omegas, just imagine the grief that men will have in order to cope with the modern dating scenario.

This brings me to online dating. Our university held one such Zoom event where I joined, but it surprised me as to how lame and ineffective it seemed. Obviously, that's because of the lack of physical contact, and again, the cues are almost hard to notice, if not downright impossible. Although I did enjoy interacting with women again, it is something I can't possibly compare to meeting up in person. Online dating, according to a redpill book I've read, is also a buffer against rejection, which makes sense: both parties don't have to deal with any realistic tension due to long distances, and virtual connectivity. It doesn't make any sense at all. Is there even a way to be able to interact properly to a woman online? Is it even possible to date with women online, knowing that everyone has to wait for the vaccines before everything returns to semi-normal? Are there techniques to keep them interested during the pandemic, and make them want you even after such a long time has passed for the vaccines to be achieved? I'm trying to make sense of it all.

Additionally, most college students are most likely staying in their homes, so it makes sense for most to not pursue any meet-up for now. And it's also fine for any existing relationships to meet up right now, so long as both parties consciously know that they're safe from the virus. However, this becomes a disadvantage to non-exclusive people since the vaccines aren't out yet.

For any additional thoughts, please share them below. I would like to know them all, and if you have any tips for dating in a post-pandemic world, feel free to share your insights.

Thank you, and have a confident and awesome day!

 

[Igetit!]

After reading a couple threads here, I do agree about working to improve ourselves while the vaccine is still underway. Learning new skills, improving past skills, exercising, getting enough food and sleep, and numerous self-improvement actions are definitely worth it.

You say you think it's a good idea to be working to improve ourselves while the vaccine is underway.....

What did you think about self-improvement BEFORE there was a corona virus/pandemic? Had you never thought about bettering yourself prior? Why wait until there's lockdowns,mask mandates,social distancing rules,and other restrictions to START the improvements?

However, I simply cannot imagine how current dating in real life will be able to work the way it has been for the past decades.

Guess that's fair,but.....you do think you'll still see children,babies,and the occasional pregnant woman around....right?

When's the last time you saw a pregnant woman? Or a toddler? You think the existence of them has been wiped out due to the pandemic?
You think everyone's celibate and abstaining from sex til they can get the vaccine?

With the advent of masks and social distancing, it will be harder for men to observe cues in women that signal interest. Given that 80% of men are betas/omegas, just imagine the grief that men will have in order to cope with the modern dating scenario.

I think you're making this harder than it has to be. The only REAL barrier are the masks,cause you can't see a person's face. Social distance isn't an issue cause you CAN SEE farther than six feet. I don't honestly even see masks being a huge hinderance.

I mean,you don't seriously think Mankind is going to go extinct due to people NOT having sex...and them not having sex due to masks......do you?

This brings me to online dating. Our university held one such Zoom event where I joined, but it surprised me as to how lame and ineffective it seemed. Obviously, that's because of the lack of physical contact, and again, the cues are almost hard to notice, if not downright impossible. Although I did enjoy interacting with women again, it is something I can't possibly compare to meeting up in person.

It'd be foolish to think online meetings through Zoom would be an equivalent to real LIVE face to face meetings/dates.

Online dating, according to a redpill book I've read, is also a buffer against rejection, which makes sense: both parties don't have to deal with any realistic tension due to long distances, and virtual connectivity.

Yes,and this "buffer against rejection"......and not having to deal with realistic tension is what makes it a FAILURE,you're not dealing with REALITY. There shouldn't be any "buffer" against rejection,the chance that it could happen should be FRONT AND CENTER.

Online dating is A TOOL. It's supposed TO AID in two people coming together,not be a SUBSTITUTE for it.

If all you're going to do is look at images of a woman with no chance of rejection and no realistic tension,you might as well just watch porn and ditch trying to date altogether.

Is there even a way to be able to interact properly to a woman online?

Course there is. But again...you have to use online in the capacity it was made for. It's A TOOL. It's supposed to make it easier to meet...not be a replacement for meeting.

Is it even possible to date with women online, knowing that everyone has to wait for the vaccines before everything returns to semi-normal?

Who told you this? Where I live,stores are open,restaurants,bowling alleys,parks,etc,etc. In fact,I have a date planned for tomorrow.

And from what I've heard,people will STILL HAVE TO wear masks and social distance even AFTER getting the vaccine.


https://nypost.com/2021/02/21/americans-may-still-be-wearing-face-masks-in-2022-fauci/

Are there techniques to keep them interested during the pandemic, and make them want you even after such a long time has passed for the vaccines to be achieved? I'm trying to make sense of it all.

No. You said it yourself........

" This brings me to online dating. Our university held one such Zoom event where I joined, but it surprised me as to how lame and ineffective it seemed. Obviously, that's because of the lack of physical contact, and again, the cues are almost hard to notice, if not downright impossible. Although I did enjoy interacting with women again, it is something I can't possibly compare to meeting up in person."

That's pretty accurate. This is why long distance relationships falter so much....you're trying to maintain something real through VIRTUAL reality. Just doesn't work.

It's also why you can meet someone online,you talk,compliment each other,send pics and emojis....you can do this for weeks,even into months.......but once you meet each other in REAL LIFE........proof...it's all gone,all falls apart. Trying to use online as the relationship itself...instead of a TOOL to get a relationship will doom you to this.

 

[inquisitor]

Thank you so much for this!

 

[inquisitor]

I think I should add that I live in an archipelago of a country, which means there's virtually no available means of meeting up unless the students move out of their homes and live near the campus, which is in the country's capital. Our country's been very strict about Covid guidelines that I don't have much of a choice when it comes to dating. If dating tips will still be applicable post-pandemic, then all I can do is wait out for our classes to be conducted face-to-face again, and meanwhile, I'll be extensively learning our college's courses from home.

 

[SW15]

@inquisitor - You are 18. You have time on your side for now. Make the most of your college years. One of my biggest regrets in relationships is that I was not a good day approacher on campus while in school. I wish I had focused on day approaching on campus instead of off campus big parties, which were more like bars/nightclubs than social circle game. With that said, it would be highly unlikely that a college relationship I had formed would still exist for me now in my late 30s. Fewer people have been forming relationships in college that stand the test of time, a trend that began around 2000.

 

[inquisitor]

@inquisitor - You are 18. You have time on your side for now. Make the most of your college years. One of my biggest regrets in relationships is that I was not a good day approacher on campus while in school. I wish I had focused on day approaching on campus instead of off campus big parties, which were more like bars/nightclubs than social circle game. With that said, it would be highly unlikely that a college relationship I had formed would still exist for me now in my late 30s. Fewer people have been forming relationships in college that stand the test of time, a trend that began around 2000.

Thank you so much. From what I've read before, I should be going for dating non-exclusively, so I won't be aiming for any serious relationships anytime soon. I guess, since the lockdown, I just miss having to talk to and interact with other women (not out of desperation or anything), but maybe it's just because I'm still young and unaware. I also want to be more wise with the money I'll attain, so I will not be considering any form of impulsive spending now.

Agreed, I will be focusing on my courses. I was also wondering, maybe it was the advent of the Internet that made it harder for longer-lasting college acquaintances to form? That's quite interesting.

 

[SW15]

What I said above and is based upon dating points from the United States. Your country's data may be different. This is what I have written about college and the changing data environment in the United States.

What the United States is seeing and what I also think a lot of nations are seeing is shorter, usually non-marital relationships. I believe that the shelf life of goodness for most relationships is 5 years. If a relationship goes beyond 5 years, odds are that the period of that relationship beyond the 5 year point will be more mediocre to subpar.

College: For decades, as more people went to college, more people formed extended romantic relationships from random interactions on campus with the man approaching the woman. Around 2000, as the Millennials were first getting to college, formation of couples in college diminished. I was in college from 2001-2005. I've tracked a lot of my contacts from those years over time on social media. Almost no one today from that cohort (late 30s) is with their college era partner. I went to a large public university. I know someone who also attended a large public university and has been with his college era girlfriend since 2010. This also coincides with the Millennials having poor social skills and the rise of internet technology, which worsened the social skills of Millennials. As an early Millennial, I was on the leading edge of this.

High school sweethearts actually lasting has been in a nosedive since the 1940s. Also, look at the nose dive in workplace related romances since ~1993. Church/religion has been in a nose dive too, starting even before the decline in religious participation.

 

[inquisitor]

Well, I guess it's now our generation's turn, so I'll be attempting to monitor the current trends on our country, on behalf of understanding zoomer's dating behaviors. Hopefully, I can contribute a lot here soon.

And as Eastern as our culture in the Philippines may seem or sound, it is very much partially influenced by Western aspects, most especially American behaviors and traditions.

Thank you so much!