Doctor's Note: this column was originally published on 9/18/17 It's not a stretch to say that dating is something of a contact sport. Signing up for it means that you're accepting that you might get hurt. Opening yourself up to people means being willing to risk a broken heart. No matter how carefully you plan or how much you try to protect yourself, eventually you're going to have to learn to deal with pain and rejection. Sometimes you see it bearing down on you like a freight train. Other t...| Paging Dr. NerdLove
As someone who's been active on the Internet since 1994 — before there was a World Wide Web, even — I've seen a lot of changes over time. Few, however, have been as significant as the way that online dating has changed. I have seen things you wouldn't believe. Spring Street Personals, shared across Salon and The Onion. Paying to send messages and buying 'roses' to send instead of likes, winks and pokes. I watched major dating sites become infested with zombie accounts and new ones popula...| Paging Dr. NerdLove
I have a serious question for you: are you someone who plays to win, or who plays to avoid losing? Most folks would say that, yes, they absolutely play to win. Even if they're not the sort of min/maxing, loophole-finding, cutthroat gamesman who makes board game night a flaming hellscape, people will generally say that when they play, their goal is to make a sincere effort at winning. However, if you look at people's dating life, you'd be forgiven for thinking that not only are they not playi...| Paging Dr. NerdLove
He's made a lot of improvements to his life but he's still getting rejected. How can he stop letting the frustration get to him?| Paging Dr. NerdLove
Every woman he meets on dating apps ghosts him after he tells them what he does for work. Does he need to find a better job or is there another option?| Paging Dr. NerdLove