I’m actually glad to see what’s been happening to Twitter because as much as it was started with good intentions and used to be a positive force for tech, it was also fundamentally flawed social media model. The basic problem was that only positive reactions were allowed - like, retweet, follow. This is NOT the town square, where you can get any reaction. It’s more akin to a dictator’s rally, where you’re only allowed to clap and booing is not allowed. So it’s no surprise that over time, it led to filter bubbles and the spread of mass delusions. Because you could say the craziest or most depraved thing, and all you’d hear is applause.

Depends. Speaking from a lot of experience being a socially awkward guy, the following helps:

• Improving fitness and wearing clothes that show it, getting rid of any terrible haircuts.
• Having standards other than appearance and focusing on that from the start. This means rejecting attractive people who aren’t a good personality/etc. fit. Why does this help? It leads to better conversations and less wasted time.
• Attitude of trying to laugh/have fun/be fun. She’s not into FOSS and motorcylces? Ok, don’t keep bringing it up then, instead talk about something you both like (and if you followed the above, there should be something).