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Comment by jessriedel | Hacker News Reader

This is consistent with my college experience but maximally inconsistent with post-college: because of online dating, many people can and do go on more coffee-only first-dates than previous generations ever did. Maybe that means they are being psychologically warped by perceived disposability, but they certainly aren't lacking in practice talking with strangers.

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I'm not sure if it's in the article or not, but the professor requires her students to ask people out in person. In my experience, both from dating and from talking to male and female friends, this is significantly less common now than in the past. And I've noticed that on planes and while waiting in lines people talk with strangers less than when I was a kid.

Not my mom. She talks to everyone anyway. Sometimes she even pinches their cheeks and hugs them. Crazy old bat.

Agreed, though this is not necessarily bad. Ideally, dating apps let us crudely filter for some of the things we're looking for, so that the relative value of interacting with the random people with whom we are physically nearby goes down.

Also, after getting lots of experience with dating using apps, asking people on a first date in meatspace gets much easier (even if there is no exactly analagous sitaution in online dating).

I agree with your post-college assessment, but I think the skill that's lacking practice is the ability to approach and meet new people. Phones, texting as the dominant form of communication, and swipe apps seem to have made that interaction more socially unacceptable / reduced the urgency for it.

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