What PUA got wrong and how recent trends made it even worse!

Indian Race Troll (IRT)

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Chase recently posted an article about PUAs and as someone who for years was that chronic cold approacher, I wanted to chime in on what PUA got wrong and what most guys on this very forum get wrong themselves as well, given the arguments I have had with them.

PUA focused on making guys good with women but neglected making them good with people or helping them build status, which is what led to their struggles in the first place.

Look at the kind of demographic that gets into PUA, the guy who was not one of the cool kids in high school and was never a part of the "in-crowd" in his college days. Most PUA bootcamps are filled with immigrants, late bloomers, STEM geeks and guys who by nature did not get much action during their teens and early 20s. The kinds of guys who did not have a large social circle to fall back on, good friendships or any sort of social proof to help out with their status. PUAs attempted to take these men and through some gimmicks, turn them into womanizers. Over the years this evolved more into helping these men get better through advanced game and maybe even acknowledging that looks matter but it still neglected helping men become better with people in general and building status.

Instead what this led to is taking a bunch of nerdy awkward guys whose looks are not on point and making them do mass approaches in public. "Coaches" told guys with bad fundamentals to just spam approach until someone started to bite and take their risks. For one, cold approaching no matter how you put it is not a social norm at all, it is outside of the norm. Now add to that aggressively trying to kiss close a girl you just met and it becomes even weirder to where if you do it in a small enough town, the social repercussions destroy your reputation.

It is because of this understanding of social norms, lack of social status and inability to be socially respected enough that these men struggled in the first place. Even when you go out alone to a bar to "sarge" or stand alone when everyone else is in groups, you come off as socially awkward and low status. People usually go out to bars and clubs in packs and groups, they don't go out alone, it indicates lower social status. Social status itself is king when it comes to landing some of the top tier girls out there, PUA never bothered to ask men to fix it. All you got were socially awkward guys who still lacked social calibration and yet went out spam approaching women, thinking they were right and everyone else was wrong.

Then social media really started to take off and so did dating apps, now these guys were even more screwed.

After being around a lot of hot women in recent months, I have found that a lack of a social media presence is very much a red flag. While good looks and tight game can overcome it, you make things a lot harder on yourself. Unfortunately, PUA and other "gurus" started to berate social media and frustrated chumps started to act like they were in the right for not being on it. In other words, they started to fight against evolution as it was happening and paid the price for it very dearly.

These guys avoided social media and did not pick up skills on how to best present themselves to their market through good photos and enough people liking them, I know because even I ignored social media in college. Then reality hit and it hit really hard as dating apps took off and having good photos was paramount to obtaining success with women.

Women wanted to be able to look at you online and see that you were normal, had friends, had a life and had interesting things going on in it. A lack of social media meant that you were either hiding something or just out of touch with the current times, in other words, you didn't "get it". When dating app profiles were filled with selfies, it meant you lacked a worthwhile life and a lack of good photos meant you had nothing interesting to show.

In other words she got the impression that no one was buying from you, your presentation was off and there must be a reason for that.

Now some guys were able to overcome this and still get laid but it was not easy.

Certain kinds of girls who were socially reclusive and not a part of the kinds of girls we all fantasize about overlooked this if all else was on point too.

Unfortunately you always left opportunities on the table by not maximizing on the social media age opportunities and not investing in them, it just made your job harder.

Because the social media and dating apps age has made status that much more important.

Women will always take the guy with thousands of followers and top notch photos, they want to know why 500+ people are loving his pics and what is going on. In some ways, it is like high school and college got carried over on to the real world.

Women will always take the guy with top notch cool pics on dating apps, it means he gets how to present himself and probably has a lot of interesting stuff going on in his life even if he actually doesn't.

All of this says to women that the guy is good with people and he gets it when it comes to social value. No woman wants a small or lonely wedding, they want the wedding with thousands of guests and the big show. A woman wants to feel like by being a part of a guy's life, she is a part of something bigger and that is due to his popularity.

A good social media page and excellent photos along with a cool social life is like going on Amazon and seeing hundreds of people left a product 5 star reviews.

But so many guys won't get this, they will continue to act holier than thou towards social media, they will make a fool out of themselves by spam approaching girls who are not available and only luck out with average girls. All because PUA forgot to acknowledge that the reason these men suck is not because they lacked "game" but rather they lacked the social skills needed to be better with people.
 

metalbird

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This is starting to sound a lot like another "girls only like guys who are _____" mentality.

My buddy just got out of the air force as an officer at 30 after an 8 year career in spec ops. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much of a social media presence; didn't get to post a lot of group pics with the worlds most dangerous men. He does just fine with women, I assure you.
 

Indian Race Troll (IRT)

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metalbird said:
This is starting to sound a lot like another "girls only like guys who are _____" mentality.

My buddy just got out of the air force as an officer at 30 after an 8 year career in spec ops. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much of a social media presence; didn't get to post a lot of group pics with the worlds most dangerous men. He does just fine with women, I assure you.

Can it be done? Yes

But why make it harder on yourself?

Is the average guy a former air force officer? No.

This is like saying "I have a friend who is a 6'4 jacked Chad Thundercock and he fucks hot girls all the time despite not being on Instagram", I mean really. come on!
 

metalbird

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Okay, fair point. He's not a typical example.

I think you make some really good points about how the PUA idea has made a terrible name for itself by pushing rookies into the fray.

In regards to the importance of social media, I would make an important distinction. To be very successful with high-level women, of course at some level you have to "graduate" from cold-approach (outside of rare, specific opportunities) and get into social game. However, it's possible to have very strong social game without having a "flashy" social media presence. In fact, I find that having a relatively low-key visible online presence can actually help with 1) creating mystery/intrigue and 2) increasing attainability.

Ultimately, the less information you can get away with putting out front, the more flexible and adaptable any strategy is. Social media makes it easy to paint an attractive picture of oneself, but you're sorta "stuck" with whatever image you portray. It's possible to avoid that.

Thoughts?
 

Indian Race Troll (IRT)

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metalbird said:
Okay, fair point. He's not a typical example.

I think you make some really good points about how the PUA idea has made a terrible name for itself by pushing rookies into the fray.

In regards to the importance of social media, I would make an important distinction. To be very successful with high-level women, of course at some level you have to "graduate" from cold-approach (outside of rare, specific opportunities) and get into social game. However, it's possible to have very strong social game without having a "flashy" social media presence. In fact, I find that having a relatively low-key visible online presence can actually help with 1) creating mystery/intrigue and 2) increasing attainability.

Ultimately, the less information you can get away with putting out front, the more flexible and adaptable any strategy is. Social media makes it easy to paint an attractive picture of oneself, but you're sorta "stuck" with whatever image you portray. It's possible to avoid that.

Thoughts?

1. If you are trying to form a social circle with millennials and anyone under 30, especially the socially desirable people (hot girls, cool guys, etc.), you will have to have social media because if you do not, you will be seen as strange and weird. Social media is used to set up events (Facebook), groups and advertise events.

2. On the contrary, the more higher quality info you give away the better, think of game as a business and advertising, everyone wants to work for or work with the company with glowing reviews. Same with social media, a lack of a presence says you are out of touch with reality and current times.

Now are there exceptions? YES, if you already have high value on paper, then you do well in spite of not being on social media, not because of it.

I mean we can argue in circles all day but social media is modern day social proof and it is modern day status metric, a lack of it shows you are out of touch with the times. The only times it is mysterious is if you are a very handsome guy with out of this world value but even the most popular celebrities and business tycoons are on Instagram and social media for promoting themselves.
 

metalbird

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Maybe it's just a question of specialization, I don't know. I'll admit I do poorly on online dating sites and social media relative to meeting girls in real life. but I don't find that that inhibits me from meeting girls in real life at all. I've never had a girl "look me up" after meeting me and then change her mind about me, and if she did then she probably wasn't really that into me to begin with and was just looking for justification. If the question ever came up, I would just answer honestly and say that I don't have a lot of time for social media. Which is a way of saying that it's not a high priority in my life.

I think what I am really good at, is communicating with people in real life. And it's interesting to note, that of all the girls that I've casually dated, the ones that (I found) were most attractive didn't have much online presence either. In fact they often would say they despise texting. and yet these same girls has some of the best real interpersonal communication abilities that I've ever seen. Maybe that's just a way that you can stand out from the crowd you know? But in order to have really really good interpersonal communication in real life, you have to put a lot of time and effort and practice into talking to people in real life. Which of course is not mutually exclusive with putting time and effort into having an online presence, but people usually seem to be more interested in one or the other for time/resource efficiency reasons.
 

Michal

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I have to agree but at the same time mention that while girls are the same in some aspects, they are different in other ones. The most beautiful and attractive girl I have met did not have instagram, she had like 113 friends on facebook. What would get her is providing value. In this case, she had a tight group of 4 friends (including her) and the best way to really impress her and make her interested was when I had a blast with one of her best friends. So I agree that social skills are important. Instagram can play against you because there are girls who would fit you well and who would be perfect for a relationship, but if you have 12k followers and she has 800, she might think you are a snob, too much into yourself and auto-reject. At which point game, social skills and experience comes into play if you pursue the chance with her.
At the end of the day, social media is a tool that you can use to get what you want. But because it is a tool, you need to tailor it to the needs. You would not try to screw a bolt with a hammer I guess. Some girls want to see your flashy stuff, while others want to see your travel pics, hobbies or social events you attend. I would say having top notch social skills is more important than havig thousands of followers.
So for the asocial losers like I still partially am, what I would recommend is going to a lot of social events if you can. Accept the invites. Any type. The people who invite you did so for a reason. They want you to be there. It can be intimidating but you will never grow if you only decide to attent certain types of events.
 

Space

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As someone who is still to lazy/busy to put up a few photos - to which social media, really? I'm sorry I only have I have 24 hours a day, I literally can't make time for this - with a mixed group (males, females) drinking, but these people don't come to my clubs anyways, I was always the guy who didn't have his core group, but were the connecting dot to all, but very different circles of people, let me have some fun with this!

Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier – review
Lanier was there for the creation of the internet and is convinced that social media is toxic, making us sadder, angrier and more isolated

As I myself don't feel like I want to, can, or it would be congruent if I were to 100% equate myself to these 'drinking buddies,' (I don't drink, I go there for warm-up, they never follow me to the clubs), yeah, I hit the clubs alone, we tried it with a few OK local pickup guys, but all of our conclusion was that when you go out for the purpose of meeting girls, it's probably the most effective if you go alone. Maybe we are all weird. Anyway, I don't want to 100% equate myself to this persona who go out to clubs alone either, not because I feel bad for myself for doing so, it doesn't do justice to me, in fact, if I had to choose between doing only do day game or night game, I would choose day game in a heartbeat, I'm sure the girls at night are nice persons at the day time as well, but the latter environment is simply the more preferred one to me. As it's winter time, I happen to meet these nice hostesses and shop assistants all the time, because what else can I do?

As I understand, you described the Alpha male behavior, as compared to Beta, etc. but taking aside the Sigma guy route, which most forum guys are, at least over Roosh's forum, but why members of this forum would be so much different? Vox Day's Socio-Sexual Hierarchy: What rank are you?

Speaking of the Alpha-Beta, etc. spectrum, (excluding Sigma), the social media thing (and demonstrating value to the ladies) is basically boils down to showing status. Let's say you are really into chess as I've just read about this issue through the example of chess. Even if you are the major of your chess club, you have status with all the chess ladies. This may not transfer well to the above two examples of mine, the 'drinking buddies,' and the club. But again, I'm not the pub guy and not the club guy either, and chess was only an example. I'm the 'connecting the dots' guy. I've always been. As another example example some friends can only go to EDM only but not to indie rock, while others to indie rock only but not to EDM, I feel home at both, given I fancy the actual performer. I'm more like a connoisseur than a groupie.

Oh Pry said:
PUA focused on making guys good with women but neglected making them good with people or helping them build status, which is what led to their struggles in the first place.
As I'm bad with history, some clear definitions are needed. What do you refer by PUA? Definition = Mystery Method? RSD up until this year, instructors X and Y? RSD is kind of a mixed bag, they have all kinds off offshoots recently, some of them might be even good. What's your definition to post-PUA or non-PUA? Girls Chase? Anything else? The first video in this post might be related,at least this is how I see it.

Oh Pry said:
Look at the kind of demographic that gets into PUA, the guy who was not one of the cool kids in high school and was never a part of the "in-crowd" in his college days. Most PUA bootcamps are filled with immigrants, late bloomers, STEM geeks and guys who by nature did not get much action during their teens and early 20s. The kinds of guys who did not have a large social circle to fall back on, good friendships or any sort of social proof to help out with their status. PUAs attempted to take these men and through some gimmicks, turn them into womanizers. Over the years this evolved more into helping these men get better through advanced game and maybe even acknowledging that looks matter but it still neglected helping men become better with people in general and building status.
I don't say I don't agree with sections like these, again, after we have defined PUA and post-PUA or non-PUA.

Oh Pry said:
Social status itself is king when it comes to landing some of the top tier girls out there
What's your definition of a top tier girl? Your top tier girl might not be the same as mine, or someone else's for that matter:

7 Things I Require In The Future Mother by Roosh

Why to Throw Out the 1-to-10 Scale for Rating Women by Chase

Oh Pry said:
Then social media really started to take off and so did dating apps, now these guys were even more screwed.
Wait! I may even agree you by labeling myself weird for not really bothering with social media, but dating apps? Wasn't it demonstrated that
- Only girls who can't get laid through social media get to the dating apps, the bottom of the barrel
- Because every girl is getting approached 100s of times online, in this environment she really appreciates a decent real life approach
- Online dating in is heavily skewed against men. Again, I may give you points that I'm weird for not having the 'time' for social media, but really, why waste your time on dating apps as a man?

Oh Pry said:
After being around a lot of hot women in recent months, I have found that a lack of a social media presence is very much a red flag. While good looks and tight game can overcome it, you make things a lot harder on yourself. Unfortunately, PUA and other "gurus" started to berate social media and frustrated chumps started to act like they were in the right for not being on it. In other words, they started to fight against evolution as it was happening and paid the price for it very dearly.
My basic idea here is to give her better sex than all those frat boys on social media. Let her do the selling, gossip about your charms to her girlfriends, recommend them to you, things like that. You don't need any social media for that.

Oh Pry said:
All of this says to women that the guy is good with people and he gets it when it comes to social value. No woman wants a small or lonely wedding, they want the wedding with thousands of guests and the big show.
Now, two questions related to this:
- Do I, as a man, want to get married? This is a serious, existential question of course. The second video from this post might be relevant here, at least for me.
- If a Girls Chase member wants to get married should he graduate to Roosh's forum, where they have a section about marriage and family, while here we don't have one? My recommendation on how to improve the forum.
- Big wedding in my country suck. Or at least, not my taste. Normal girls here are also more into the small weddings, such as normal guys. At least, people I sympathize with in this matter. These may include even 'high quality girls,' even by your standards, by the way.

Oh Pry, it was you who made this complicated post about Facebook which I deconstructed earlier.

Let's not forget, you didn't define what social media do you prefer, or have to be on. Then think about moving to another part of the world where said social media is unknown, irrelevant, or straight out blocked by the local authorities. So all in all, maybe there's a life outside of social media. At least for those who are into international travel, which, according to Chase, is not the majority of forum members, I see.

On positive note, here's a good book on social circle I recommend to myself to read by veteran dating coach Brent Smith: Jump Start Your Social Life.

metalbird said:
This is starting to sound a lot like another "girls only like guys who are _____" mentality.

My buddy just got out of the air force as an officer at 30 after an 8 year career in spec ops. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much of a social media presence; didn't get
All in all, I could have just written that I agree metalbird. And you don't even have to be an Air Force guy, you can just be busy in your garage building the next big thing, or being deployed in foreign lands where they use different social media or no social media, it doesn't matter.
 
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