Who Was That?
When social proofing goes too far
Having a pretty female friend can be a great thing and will definitely tend to provide a substantial amount of social proofing for a man. However, it can backfire when the object of a man’s interest doesn’t know that she’s legitimately nothing more than a friend and not a potential rival.
One of my very good friends in my twenties was one of my brother’s ex-girlfriends, a tall, pretty model who looked a lot like the model Niki Taylor. After they broke up, she was adopted as one of the guys, and we all enjoyed having her around, although no one had any interest in dating her because she was a) crazy and b) absolutely unreliable in pretty much every possible way. She was one of those people who couldn’t go to Italy for a week without getting kidnapped by the Mafia, or go to Miami without getting attacked by a shark at the beach.
Although we never had any romantic involvement at all, two things to which we were accustomed were to a) have post-midnight coffee at Perkins two or three times a week and b) she would greet me by kissing me on the lips. She knew I wasn’t a hugger or a touchy person, so that was her way of expressing her exuberant affection without seriously invading my personal space. But neither of those things tended to be met with especial enthusiasm by women who were interested in me.
And it did occasionally cause problems when I would bring a date to a party, or run into her downtown while out on a date, and suddenly this tall, beautiful girl would appear out of nowhere, greet me as was her wont, and then cheerfully start talking to my date. Fortunately, she was so genuinely good-hearted and likeable that everything was usually fine within a minute or two. Usually. But not always.
So social proofing is great, up to a point.
Speaking of Hypergamouse, here is a picture of the printed proof, which we have approved and is being printed now. The quality is easily the highest-level we’ve achieved yet for any Arkhaven comic. It’s also the largest physical book we’ve ever produced.
The book looks SO GOOD! This is my first time seeing the physical proof, and I'm stoked. Thanks once again to everyone who supported the Kickstarter. ❤️
It still amazes me how quickly social proof can change a woman's perception of a man, and her mood for that matter. It is also quite amusing how women often think it works the same way on men as it does on them.