Two weeks ago, I had a date with a girl I met through a dating app. She was really nice, we had a great conversation and she told in person at the bar she would love to see me again.
Well fast forward a week, I keep texting her to set something up, but she’s not responding. I think she’s ghosted me. I mean, that’s fine, but if you don’t want to date me anymore, then just let me know. I will respect your decision.
Dating is so frustrating sometimes… It’s really fucking hard and I sometimes feel lonely because of my lack of success. I have a good job and I’m a nice guy… but eh… I digress.
Dating through an app is hard. I can’t hack it at all. Dating through mutual friends will limit your options, but genuine connections happen much more readily. I’ve found (what felt like) true love a few times, all from mutual acquaintances. I didn’t have a good job, and I’m not even that nice (or “nice”) of a guy IMO. I just made normal friends, and dated the people they knew.
You don’t need to compete with the whole world of sexy, highly eligible, rich people. You need to be a person with friends, not habitually smell bad, and be capable of genuine human vulnerability. That’s literally it.
I should find out how to make friends. Still not able to, after all those years.
Hey OP, I hear your frustration. Sometimes, she will simply not be into you like that, and that’s okay. But there are concepts that can significantly improve your dating life if you learn them.
The most important thing is to intentionally be romantic. You have to flirt. The way you describe this interaction doesn’t sound very flirty. She was nice and you had a good conversation? That’s great, but she could probably get a similar experience from a friend.
Flirting is about making things exciting. Taking a risk and making your intentions known is often attractive. Think playful banter. Having a low stakes, interview-style conversation is just boring for most women.
Practical ways to be more flirty:
- choose a venue where you can sit side by side
- maintain great eye contact when she’s talking
- don’t rush to fill every silence, let it breathe
- use statements more, rather than just questions
- respectful and appropriate use of touch
- playfully challenge or disagree with her at times
- humor is great, but don’t constantly joke around
Basically, being a nice guy with a good job is great, and actually a prerequisite for many women to date you. But it’s not inherently sexy. You gotta learn how to embrace your romantic side to show them you’re capable of that, too.
OP is doing something right if they’re making it all the way to a date. I’m usually pretty great in person, don’t often have issues getting second dates if I want them, but holy shit the early stages on apps are infuriating. Most men aren’t signing up to dating sites to try out our comedy routines and throw out pickup lines for fun, but it seems like that’s what it takes to get a reply.
Women often don’t feel the need to fill out anything in their profiles since they know they can skate by on a couple of cute photos, a platitude, and/or a list of things they don’t want. I need to ask questions to make sure I’m not wasting my time. How do I have a fun conversation if I have no idea what they like? Asking and answering questions might be “boring” but I also feel like it’s important to figure out if we’re just wasting time. If you jump to the date without much talking, you might have a lot of those left over.
Agreed, if OP is getting dates then women are clearly interested, just something not clicking on the first date. And yeah, texting on apps definitely sucks. I try to do it as little as possible. But I think many questions can be reworked into statements, like “Where do you work” is boring, but “I’m getting lawyer vibes” accomplishes the same thing and is more fun
Dating sucks. For every nice person you meet and make a connection of some sort with there’s three or four who drop off the face of the planet. I get it’s easier to just ghost but it’s pretty shitty. (And this is speaking as someone with social anxiety who has definitely ghosted before lol oops)
I think this is also key to remember - there are a million reasons why people might end up ghosting, and half of them don’t really have to do with the person being ghosted at all. Sometimes keeping up with conversations just becomes overwhelming for some people.
It’s always important to look for ways to improve as a person, but it’s equally important to not interpret everything as a personal failure. Sometimes things just don’t work out. :)
I have definitely told guys at the end of a date that I “want to see them again” while having no intention of seeing them again. It’s a safety thing. IME guys can Jekyll and Hyde pretty hard when being rejected.
I know it can hurt feelings, but when it comes down to it, my safety > your feelings
I (man) had similar experience as op and i tougth that people on dating apps are really rude for some reason that it is a apps community thing or something this scenario never occure to me as a option. Is really meeting some foreigner as a girl so scary and/or dangerous?
Yes it is scary and dangerous. Additionally, some completely flip or “just” start insulting you when you say you don’t want to see them again. I am happier single than trying to go on dates and I bet that’s one of the reasons only 20 % or so of the users on dating apps are women.
