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?
In the early 2000s there was seemingly infinite television studio budget to pick a random subculture or even individual sociopaths, and just give them a reality show. I just assumed as broadcast and cable viewership declined, these types of grifters also went away or were forced to get real jobs.