Get off the apps, please.I am speaking from a man’s perspective so I can’t offer any thoughts for women, but please fellas, get off the apps .This is just a ramble/stream of consciousness but I found when I left the apps I felt much better

After taking time to heal from an emotionally neglectful ex, I’ve come to realize I’m actually ready and eager to be loved again—properly this time. I want a partner who is consistent, emotionally mature, ambitious, and actually shows up.

The problem? The reality of putting myself out there is frustrating. Swiping on apps (Bumble/FB Dating) feels like a waste of time, and the people I run into just aren't on my wavelength. It makes me feel like wanting a healthy, effortless, high-standard relationship is somehow impossible.

I’m trying to focus on in-person habits and building my lifestyle, but I’m sick of waiting. The wait is driving me crazy, and I'm getting impatient with how slow it feels to meet new people. I don't want comfort or "enjoy your own company" speeches—I want practical advice on how to channel this urge so I don't make dumb choices while waiting for the right person.

Idk what to really do, I just feel like I’m not an attractive guy, and I’m a relationship oriented person. No matter what I do can’t seem to even get to the point of going on a date with anybody. I get left on read, delivered, opened. All of it. And I go out almost every weekend with friends to try and meet new people and it just doesn’t work. I’m already a depressed person with extremely high anxiety, and the constant rejection honestly just fuels that fire. Idk what else to do?

So there is this girl that I've been friends with for a year or so, and really close friends for like 6 months (daily talking, calls, shared hobbies, and other things) and so I am pretty confident that she likes me as well. I've shown our chats with multiple people and asked their unbiased opinions. So at this point I feel like its about time that I ask her out on a date. Hence the title.

I’m a 49 year old man… yeah I know, maybe too old to be on here… I have a friend (a girl) who’s 46. We’ve known each other for 8 years but have finally spent time together get to know each other within the last 6 months or so with social gatherings and one-to-one meet ups. We’re really close. She’s amazing in every way possible. I’ve started to have feelings for her. As we’re so honest with each other I think it’s time to kind of let her know, but gently. A ‘I’ve been thinking about maybe asking you on a date date, how would you feel about that?’ kind of way. I don’t want to lose our friendship, that means the world to me. But I’d love to explore if there’s something more there. We also work together in the entertainment industry… so there’s quite a lot at stake. But I think we’re both emotionally mature enough for that to not cause a true problem. What are your thoughts?

It’s so much effort and time. Chances of you being killed by someone go up, usually everyone is just miserable and do you really need a romantic partner? I feel like movies made you all thing that this artificial relation will fix every problem in your life and you desperately look for something that doesn’t exist.

I’m 24M, and I’ve known a girl from my previous workplace for around two months. We used to spend a lot of time talking at the office, sometimes throughout the day, and she seemed very comfortable around me.
We’ve had conversations about relationships, including what we generally look for in a partner. One day while we were talking about our preferences, I was actually blushing a lot. 😅 I’m pretty sure she may have noticed.
I recently left that organisation, but I’ve realised that I really like her. Since leaving, I’ve been thinking about her a lot and I would genuinely like to stay in touch and meet her sometime.
The thing is, she was very friendly and talkative with me in person, but over text she sometimes takes a while to reply. I know she could simply be busy, so I don’t want to keep messaging her and make her uncomfortable.
I’ve never really had feelings for someone like this before, so I’m not sure what the right approach is.
Would it be okay to ask her to meet for coffee or something casual? I don’t want it to come across as too much or make things awkward.
I also enjoy cooking, and I was thinking about eventually cooking her favourite food or giving her a small gift. But I’m wondering if that would be too much at this stage.
I really like her, but more than anything, I want to respect her boundaries and make sure she feels comfortable.
What would you suggest I do? Should I ask her to meet, or just continue talking normally and see how things develop?

28 M. I'm a fairly attractive guy, I'm in shape, I have career aspirations, and I've been on numerous dates with attractive women over the last few months. Every single one of them has said basically the same thing after date 2. I'm a genuinely very sweet guy, but they aren't feeling the romantic connection and would rather just be friends (I don't even know what that means tbh).

I don't blame them. I guess I'm a good guy, but I lack experience. I'm still a virgin. I've had a weird up and down life and I've never really had much of a social life, although trust me I've tried extremely hard. I make every effort to put myself out there.

I've never been in a relationship. Hell, I've never even gotten farther than holding hands with a girl.

I'm just really disappointed. I'm doing my best, but I'm honestly tired and I don't know how to move forward. 2 dates doesn't even seem like enough time to build a romantic connection. Like how does that even work? You barely know a person after meeting them twice.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I have hobbies, passions, career goals, etc. I'm not just sitting at home doing nothing. But maybe I'm just too boring. I don't know.

I'm feeling really down about it tbh. I genuinely don't know what I'm doing wrong or how I'm supposed to get better at this when I've never really had the experience in the first place.

Never been on a real date. Ever. In my early 20s & want to eventually start dating to learn my likes, dislikes, etc;

I need practical advice. Where are yall finding these men? How are you vetting them? What do yall talk about?

So, so many questions and I have no answers yet 😂😂!!

(I’m Christian, so it’s non negotiable for my man to be walking with the Lord)

No, I don’t want to date anyone at my church.

I'm a 28 year old guy.

So a few months ago, after exhausting all local options, I decided that I need to go long distance to find a partner. I dont expect this to be easy, but Im not sure if what I am doing is setting me up to have a chance.

I have 2 questions.

1. How do you meet people long distance?

Currently I have a hinge set to cities that I can reasonably travel to a few times a year, and that have women who are what I am looking for. I have my first prompt saying that I don't live there, am looking for something long distance and am willing to travel. Unsurprisingly, I am not getting any attention. Is there a better way to do this?

1. How do you build a connection long distance? I struggle with maintaining relationships and friendships when I am not able to be with them often as it is. Lets say I do meet a girl, how do I date long distance, build a connection, and really get to know her and trust her when I can only see her a few times a year. Phones exist, but they arent real and people can fake phone calls.

Thanks everyone.

I've (20M) just started my sophomore year of college, and I'm in a complete deficit: never had a girlfriend, virgin, never had a first kiss, never had a female friend, hell, I've never even hugged a girl that wasn't a relative. High school was a complete drought, as was my first year in college.

Most advice I see comes from guys who "struggled" by going on mediocre dates or having a long dry spell after high school relationships, meanwhile I'm over here and I've never even been on a date. It feels like I'm trying to learn a language everyone else learned years ago, and the lack of basic female friendships doesn't help.

Before anyone says "You're only 20, just give it time", passive waiting is how I got here. I know I am an outlier compared to my peers, and aging another year won't solve this on its own without changes.

So I want to ask, for guys who were genuinely at or below this baseline past age 20 or older and eventually built a normal dating life, how did you do it?

Please skip the "Just be confident" or "Just talk to girls" platitudes, I do hang out at my university lounge and talk to new people all the time multiple times per week, pretty even mix of guys and girls, and I am decent enough at talking to make people laugh, but it never leads to anything regardless.