Written by Kiara Devese, who interviewed her friend and his girlfriend (Aryn Hubbard and Kasie Rogers)
Our strategies for getting the interest of the person we like have evolved beyond just pickup lines. Throughout our interviews one thing has become clear. Remembering and using pickup lines are fading away in dating culture. However, pickup lines are still idealized by most. Most of the people we interviewed did not use what we commonly refer to as a pickup line. Yet when asked about them, it seems as if pickup lines are notorious for their cheesiness and uncomfortable nature.
So why do pickup lines continue to be so popular? These lines are used as a way to project our personalities during first impressions. Usually a person can pick up on this by the line you choose. Is it a play on words? Overtly sexual? Teasing? Impressions on these can be positive or negative, but ultimately filter who is worth talking to and who is not. It is one of many ways to gate keep our hearts.
The choice of pickup line can be very revealing about the person and is also influenced by relative attractiveness. For example, a study done by Bale and other researchers, saw that based on the recipients personality, certain pickup lines will attract them. They found that women who are more shy are more receptive of positive pickup lines. Women who are extroverts and more outgoing were receptive to humorous lines. Women who have more of an aggressive personality are more receptive to the complementary or sexual lines. So while we may feel as if pickup lines are outdated and not relevant or don’t work on us, it is the purpose of pickup lines that needs to be redefined.
The medium by which pickup lines are being communicated has been expanded as well. Online pickup lines can be born through the use of memes and emojis in order to virtually introduce one’s self and see if the recipient has a complementary personality type. For example, within my interview, we talked about a particular trend where a person uses basketball references in order to “shoot their shot”.
The adaptiveness of pickup lines and the humor they lend outside of romantic interests, has aided in their survival. While someone may not be receptive to the virtual basketball “rolling into their direct messages”, it is humorous for the viewers to watch the interaction. So as people continue to formulate unique ways to catch others attention, the creative steps they take are to the audiences benefit.
Pickup lines are meant to get us to the door, not necessarily open the door. We are projecting our inner selves to potential mates, describing our attributes. Whether that person likes this message is based on their own personality. Thus it narrows down the pool of people that one may be interested in so as not to waste time. Additionally, people outside of the conversation can see humorous interactions virtually, idealizing the type of personality that would come up with ingenious ways to attract others.