I used to hear about pickup artists all the time—books, forums, “negging,” the whole thing. Now it seems like they’ve vanished, and the only people left are “alpha male” influencers selling courses. Did the pickup artists go extinct, rebrand, or achieve enlightenment?
My quick take is that all that stuff mattered when people had to go out to find other people: to parties, bars, concerts, and other public places. They had to actively attract people to initiate a conversation. Now all those third places are dying, and most couples meet online, which means they have done all the superficial selection stuff already, which changes the game.
They’re still in the online space but they’re not pick up artists, they’re tinder profile experts or whatever they call themselves.