0:05 Welcome back to another episode of The Careful Boys. Well, we're going to be talking about the top 10 dating trends in 2026. Damn. This is going to sound like foreign language to us probably. Dude, we're all still in the game. >> [laughter] >> Damn, Anthony. All of us. All of us. >> [snorts] >> First of all, if you can gaslight your wife, you got a game. All right. If you can gaslight your wife, I think if you can, then you have a game. >> it was you either have game or you have to gaslight your wife. >> [laughter] >> Then I have no game cuz I only have gaslight my wife. [laughter] Okay. So, apparently this is this is a thing in 2026 and obviously it's it's very important that we as dinosaurs uh can compare to what it was in our generation. Happy birthday, Joe, by the way. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay, so
0:55 number one, dating trends in 2026. Number one, political deal breakers. Oh, man. Dude. >> Crazy. Yeah. >> Isn't it like super different now where you're you're like like it's so polar that that's the biggest deal breaker cuz you just can't meet in the middle for nothing. >> Some family members don't even talk because of that. Like, oh, you voted for Trump? We're not even speaking anymore. >> Yeah, that's true. Which is Then they just made fun of you. Or back then they didn't even really care. Oh, he's a yeah, he's a Republican. He's a Democrat. Whatever. But I didn't know that many Republicans back then either. Like in college, I feel like nobody was >> People you knew. Oh, yeah. >> Oh, but they're Ron Paul Republicans. They're different from like Yeah, but you're right. You're right. Yeah, I did know them. Yeah. >> way too smart for >> how that's a big thing. Yeah. Yeah, where like back then the focus was like
1:46 height [snorts] or income, now it's like if you don't have the same political ideologies or if there's something conflicting with yours, like that's a huge deal breaker. Huge. Yeah. But I don't think anyone simped for politics, like remember growing up, all the way even in college, right? Like if you were into politics, you were lame. Now it's like cool. Like you have political influencers, you have like yeah. That's people's identities now. Yeah. It was really dorky back then. It was very separate. It wasn't like integrated into life the way it is now. Yeah. Yeah, and if you were an activist, you're just like you're a dork, dude. >> Yeah, exactly. You just get socked. >> Yeah. All right, number two is therapy lingo. Oh my god. mental spaces or whatever. Actually, I'm an anxious attachment style. My nervous system doesn't feel safe around you. Like >> The ████ How the ████ would you know? Dude, that's hell. Self-diagnosing ████ My nervous system is
2:38 breaking down every time I talk to you. It's the whole like mental health awareness and empathy and even like terminology and being like aware of those things. It's It's a lingo. I think it's dope when you like are self-aware, but not if it's a crutch and if you lead with it. Yeah. >> Like if you know things about you and you know like and you can utilize all those tools to like progress, but if you're like, "Uh yeah, I don't do that because I'm like a intro- extrovert or whatever." Then you're like, "What the f███?" >> [laughter] >> Difference is they uh this generation uses psychology like horoscopes. Like it's like um Even the Myers-Briggs like Briggs or whatever the ENTJ all that. Like the way that they use it is like,
3:30 "Oh, I'm a Scorpio, so this is the reason why I can't do this, that." And I'm like, "The f███?" You're doing it so wrong. Yeah. Just anything anytime people are using like a debilitating mental situation as a point of pride in why it's making them unique. Get the ████ out of here, bro. What is art? >> Respectfully, dude. Life is hard enough. You know what I mean? Life has enough ████ We have a We have a family member. Of course, not on my side cuz we're not gay like that. But on uh >> [laughter] >> on Geo's side, man, they always ████ lead with that ████ >> Yeah, exactly. >> Text something important. Hey, are we going to get together for uh like this head of the household's birthday, whether a grandma or a grandpa, whatever, right? Ghosts for 3 days. Uh I just needed to take a moment of
4:21 absence because I needed to I was having some sort of mental breakdown ████ So, now I wanted to give you the response that you deserve. And all you're doing is like, "Yo, on Thursday, can everyone meet at Cheesecake Factory?" It's like that. And then they need to have a ████ mental space for some I know I'm like, "What the ████ dude?" >> equivalent of >> [laughter] >> of this for when we were like dating and going like in our 20s and stuff? Yeah, what would be the like Oh, MAN. >> ASTHMA? >> [laughter] >> YEAH. BUT THAT'S REAL THOUGH, YOU KNOW? It's like, "I I couldn't reply cuz I couldn't breathe." >> [laughter] >> Or being allergic to peanuts. Or like the the psychological like >> [laughter] >> like they're using your they're using
5:12 these terms and then they're doing it incorrectly, but they're hiding behind this Dude, I don't know, bro. Guys, it's like you never say things like this to show how you're strong. Well, yeah, you just get over them. You just get over it. >> have anxiety, you don't say anything to anybody about it, and you pretend that you don't have anxiety. >> And then you just quietly end it all like a real man. Yeah. Cuz I remember some of this stuff starting in our like dating era, and it uh the topic of the day was depression. That was a big one. And then a lot of people believed that that was a permanent trait and you couldn't get out of it. That sucks. >> Yeah, that was a I think that was a pretty big >> So, if I ran into that and that mind mentality, that was my red flag. If they thought that they couldn't overcome their depression.
6:02 >> Oh, okay. >> And if they thought that they needed antidepressants. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> And they had to take anti >> Definitely a red flag regardless. Yeah. Right. >> Number three, clear coating. Uh it's more people being direct with what they're looking for in a partner and what they want out of a relationship, whether it's like I like that actually. I like that. >> needs to make 6 million a month. Oh, that's not what I was talking about. Kind of, but it's more so when you're actually going on a date and you're just being very explicit. So, it's not like it's not as much subtlety and game. It's yeah. It's a it's >> [laughter] >> It's a take the guessing games out of dating and reduce situationships and prioritize compatibility and honesty. Well, no, it's more so things like hey, like uh knowing that especially when you're swiping on something like an app or whatever, it's like you already know like this person's religious background,
6:52 their career, their you know, it's like getting the things that are clearly like on your checklist of like I'm not even going to have a conversation with this person unless they are XYZ type of thing. You know, like oh, are you into cats? >> America over Israel? >> Yeah, sure. Yeah, they I mean >> [laughter] >> You see a girl with like big ass titties and then you're like Protestant? >> [laughter] >> NO WAY. YOU'RE more like, how can I be [laughter] Protestant? How can I fake Protestant? >> [laughter] >> Protestant? Protestant? >> Micro dating? You guys [snorts] heard of micro dating? What the hell is that? >> It's the the forget the dinner and the movie type thing. It's a Gen Z is adopting a more efficient approach called micro dating, which is like 30-minute coffee.
7:42 >> I like that actually. I like that. Yeah, go do coffee shop meetups, quick walks to assess compatibility before committing to a full date. I like the no pressure of that. That's cool. So, I think sometimes full date is a lot of pressure. And then you're in it and it ████ sucks and there's no way out cuz you know you got to see it to the end cuz you guys already talked about dinner and a movie, but the whole way it just sucks ass and it's easier to baby step it and like, "Oh, this is even work or not?" >> Totally just depends on what works for you is all because some people need more than 30 minutes to like really It's like your dad. It's like your dad took the 2 weeks to like convince your mom's family why he was the man, you know, versus like walking off the plane right away. This is a new thing? It's a new like kind of like more trendy. It's like >> primary preference. >> Yeah. Oh. The older back you go, it's like, "Oh, you got to wear something
8:32 nice. Dine wine and dine." Like if you think the '50s, right? Yeah, you open the door, you pull up in the car. It's like a a date is a an You would like borrow your friend's car to show up to like But now this this on this side of the spectrum it's like I call date. Yeah, like let's just go to the park and walk our dogs. Yeah. >> You're a man trying to woo the woman, right? Like you're trying to impress her. But now it's like let's not try to impress anybody. Let's just be ourselves. Let's talk like normal people and see if we're clicking. Yeah. Uh number five, friend influence, which is like uh like in a recent survey conducted by Tinder, over 40% of single people said their friends influence who they date. So, if the group chat says like this person is a red flag, everybody listens, right? That's why it's dangerous when your friends ████ are whack. That's ████ Or or they're just like jealous fridges. Yeah. That's
9:22 the worst. But that's always been >> [laughter] >> a thing. Friends fluency. I don't think that's ever stopped. But maybe now maybe now they're just like hyper aware and accepting of it. You know? Or like they have a name for it. Well, like before it was like you didn't want to accept that your friends were forming your opinion. Maybe it's now it's like let's collectively find out if we want if we like this guy. >> It's an official thing. >> do we like him? Are we okay with him? You know, like it's almost like the official Yeah, rather than before when they're like I make my own decisions. My friends didn't influence me. Yeah, even though they did. Even though they did, yeah. Dating apps are becoming obsolete. I like that. How is that happening? I like that way better. >> That's cool. There's just been now after so many years of adoption and stuff like that there have been horror stories also for so many years, right? So more people
10:12 are getting catfished or worse. So to avoid the scenarios completely, going back to the organic connection and meeting people and taking a break from swiping or going to traditional like social events and stuff like that, yeah. Meeting someone in real life? Number seven is the the engagement hard launch. It's like keeping their dating life more private and not posting about it or anything like that until like there's an actual engagement and then be like boom. Woah. That's a new thing? I could see how that makes a lot of sense. You remember like when we just started like getting exposed to social media or like like yeah, Facebook like actually having a relationship and then breaking up a month later and being like this is such a big deal. And you would just like >> about like the status >> Yeah, the status change, yeah. But you know like new gen, are they still using Facebook in that way because you can't status change. Well, I think it's more so the idea that if you like constantly
11:03 on social media or showing this relationship, then you're also under pressure that you might be like identified as a part of the relationship so breaking up's even harder. I think it's like the the whole consensus is reducing liability or pressure or anxiety and >> of sad cuz I think that's I I enjoy that being a part of Like I think if you have a hard break up, that's not necessarily a bad thing to me. I think that's just a testament to how like serious you guys were, you know? Well, as long as you're not the one at on the other end of the heartbreak of [laughter] Oh, no. I mean either what I either side. I mean it shows that like you were in something real and it's not just something that can anonymously fade away and no one notices it was ever there. That feels a little bit like, you know? There's the uh 777 rule. Oh. Basically it's like uh it's designed to keep couples connected through intentional quality time, right?
11:54 So it's like uh one date night every 7 days, a week and a way every 7 weeks, and a vacation every 7 months. I never heard of that. Intentional time spent >> Similar in a lot of church groups, they'll say like at least once a week take your wife out on a date and then once a month do like a one-day No, no. Once a month you do like a whole day thing and then like at 6-7 months you guys go on a vacation where it's just you two. So because a marriage is like the bedrock of the whole family. Yeah. So you want to make sure that they We did? SEVENTH DAY IS >> [laughter] >> 7777 NUMBER NINE is shrekking. Have you guys ever heard of shrekking? >> No, what's that? >> Shrekking. It's pretty ████ funny to be honest. Um it's inspired by the film Shrek and means dating someone you think is below your league and assuming you'll have better treatment and the upper hand in
12:44 relationship as opposed to dating someone you'd find conventionally attractive. >> Hell no, that's messed up. That's so messed up, dude. >> Manipulative. That's crazy. >> They're still going to get cheated on. You know how you know someone would I mean unless guys like feeling like that, but I wouldn't want to know that someone dated me because they thought I was ████ off. Is it usually girl to guy? They don't tell you that. They're just supposed to have a power control over It's a horrible foundation. Or it's like dating fatter chicks Hey he he's he's done it that way before. >> [laughter] >> No, hey, everybody's learning. We kids learn. Fatter chicks so they'll suck your dick more? >> No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, I would have though. This is the Anthony Lee ████ Number 10, throning. Uh in the age of social media influencers having a large following can elevate your personal brand and open doors to the right opportunities. Unlike old school gold digging, clout cashers
13:34 don't necessarily care about obtaining wealth. They're more interested in using their partner's reputation and online status. Yeah, that's that sounds about right. >> But before social media, it was everyone wanted the popular guy. And he didn't necessarily have to be the hottest guy, but if you a lot of people just know you, it you were, you know, >> That's always tried and true for all time. >> is exactly social media. Now you can quantify it. Yeah. So yeah, good luck out there, everybody. It's almost all the same things in human nature, but now it's digital. Let us know in the comments if you Shrek or get Shrek'd.
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