How do you guys on here even get dates let alone relationships?

I’ve been dealing with pretty bad social anxiety for most of my life, and one of the things I really struggle with is dating. As guy, I feel like there’s this expectation that I need to make the first move whether it’s online or in person but that just feels impossible most of the time. Being 30+ makes it much worse because people expect you to have experience by now and get discouraged by a lack of experience.

I’ve tried pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I’ve used dating apps consistently for over a year, but I’ve never gotten a match, let alone a conversation. In real life, I have intense approach anxiety, made worse by some really discouraging experiences when I tried just starting a conversation with some people. And of course there's my social anxiety too.

I’m not very social to begin with, and that doesn’t help. But then I read stories of people who are also introverted or socially anxious who somehow met their partner through a hobby, online, or even had someone approach them.

It’s not even about finding “the one” right now. Its about finding someone open to giving me a shot and getting to know me, but that hasn’t happened yet.