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BY Tyler | January 21st, 2009 at 9:06 AM
A Historic Day Of Transition…The Inauguration Of RSDN 2.0
HEY THERE!!

Welcome to the first incarnation of the new RSD Nation.

The site is a work in progress, and you’ll see that there we’re still working out a few bugs and functionality/usability issues. But we’ve pumped the baby out of the womb and got it functional for you to begin using and enjoying as of today.

Building this site has been a dream of mine since about 2006. There’s a juicy history that’s lead up to where we are now, so I thought that today I would share it with you.

RSD was founded on internet forums. My first ever post on a forum was August 19 2002 under the alias “Tyler Durden” (my real name is Owen Cook – but everyone had these crazy nick names) and the name Tyler has since stuck. Back then most of my posts had a flare for being obnoxious, melodramatic, and somewhat stupid – yes, even more than today. However I was obviously very motivated to improve at this whole “success with women” endeavor, and there were still a few nuggets of worthwhile information mixed in there which allowed me to build a small following.

The so-called “community” was, well, kind of dorky at that time. Almost like something out of a comedy, and most of my bootcamp students were guys that the average person probably wouldn’t be inclined to spend a lot of time around. I was basically one of the loudest and most motivated of that incarnation of the community, and so I became one of the well known cast of characters. Then for about a year in 2005, I moved away from involvement with internet discussions and focused on teaching in real life.

Anyway it was in 2006 that the first version of RSDN launched. We had just put out the DVD/CD program “Foundations” and we threw it up to build hype for the release date, with the web address http://www.realsocialdynamics.com/forum. The site was run on the modest VBulletin that you’ve come to use and love (or hate, if you’re one of those strange fellows who dislikes RSDN but still finds time to read it), and the launch was a resounding……“PLOP!”

There was maybe a day or two with users visiting, and then the discussions sort of dried up. I didn’t really care as I wasn’t very into internet chat forums anymore. But a few months later I was experiencing a sort of “writer’s block” on Blueprint Decoded and found myself making posts there every day.

Soon enough, people started coming because the discussions were getting pretty lively, and we developed the core group that established the culture which RSDN enjoys today. The big thing with RSDN at that time was THE VIBE. The place was super positive and uplifting. Guys like Tim, who typically wouldn’t go near an internet chat forum with a ten foot koala bear, were getting onto the place and engaging in all sorts of cool and value-producing discussions.

To keep the vibe of the forum hot I started moderating it personally. For the first six months of RSDN’s existence I would log on every hour, skim through the posts, and delete anything that resembled the stereotypical internet flaming and trolling. I actually deleted virtually ANYTHING that I thought had a negative vibe, and I would “private message” the users who posted it personally to ask about why they’d been inclined to write something like that. Funny enough, the users whose posts I deleted and talked to personally usually really appreciated it, and would often start offering value to the forum.

As time went on the place evolved. I had the “click” that it wasn’t exactly realistic for me to be moderating the forum personally all day, every day, and brought on a team of moderators. They’ve since done an amazing job, although sometimes people complain, which I think is because they don’t have the ability to talk to the users personally like I used to. Nonetheless I’ve been extremely happy with how the team has kept the place clean and fun to read. I really appreciate these guys tremendously, and if you’re a reader of RSDN, then you do as well, probably without realizing it.

Likewise, we’ve been challenged by influxes of new users. Thousands of people read this place every day, and it’s hard to keep that same core vibe that we built this place on when there are so many new folks getting involved. I’ve been impressed though. Many of the core guys have kept participating here, and many others will leave for a while and then come back to contribute. We also have all sorts of new guys coming on who’ve shared really cool ideas and perspectives. Overall I’ve seen the transition from a smaller and more intimate group to a larger and higher volume forum go as well as I could have hoped for, and I want to thank everyone personally who has contributed to that.

Anyway here we are in 2009, and the “community” has definitely changed. Whether folks are talking about politics, society, or sports, there is always a tendency to look back to the “golden era” when everything was supposedly perfect. This community is definitely like that, in that people will often look back to the “days of yore” when everyone strolled down the streets holding hands and singing pick-up carols. In my personal view, however, I think the community now offers more value to the average user than it ever has in the past. Part of that is the technology, part of that is the streamlining of the ideas, and part of that is the improvement in the quality of users. I guess that view isn’t exactly as “trendy” as the view of folks who like to whine and moan about it, but it’s my honest assessment.

My opinion comes primarily from the people I meet in real life. In my case, that’s the students I work with on bootcamps nearly every weekend. I can say from experience that type of people I’ve met on program has improved very noticeably every single year, and that this has forced me to stay on the ball and continually evolve, in order to stay a step ahead and have anything worthwhile to teach. I look at the last six months of bootcamps I’ve taught, and the students have all been incredibly cool guys. Some are total pimps just taking it because they think it’s hilarious something like this exists, and some are new and inexperienced but with a super positive attitude and an eagerness to learn.

I guess I’m breaking a trend here, and it’s just a lot cooler to talk about how much the community sucks. I mean, if somebody ELSE sucks, then YOU must be cool by default, right? But for me personally, the community has been one of the most important resources that I’ve ever had at my disposal, if not the most important, point blank period. I’d be a very different person today if it didn’t exist, and I think that even the most vocal critics of the community would acknowledge that there is a tremendous value to be uncovered, even if they disagree with many aspects of the culture or inner workings.

For me, this site represents RSD evolving along with the community. As we evolve, the community evolves, and that’s what’s kept us relevant. Evolving to a “new paradigm” means being willing to shed your old opinions about your most important truths, and to look out at the world with a new perspective, similar to a chick cracking out of an egg and looking around with fascination at a new mode of existence. And that’s what we’ve really endeavored to do, both on a personal level, and as an organization.


I’ve chosen to create this new site because I am a believer in what the community has to offer. I think that any set of ideas can earn it’s “15 minute of fame” – but that it’s only once scrutiny sets in that you see if the ideas will survive or die off. This community has evolved through that scrutiny because despite whatever shortcomings there are (and THERE ARE shortcomings), there is still an underlying philosophy that is pretty darned enlightening. And I believe it’s going to continue to evolve, hopefully into the area of relationships, and all sorts of other more advanced areas, because the experience of being a man in modern society is changing, and guys are hungry to share ideas with each other about their journeys.

I know that Papa (Nick Kho – my business partner and CEO of RSD), has felt the pressure from his traditionally Asian parents over the years, to use his education for something “useful” (as you can imagine, they’re thrilled about the whole RSD thing). I’ve also felt the draw to attend law school, as I’d originally intended before taking the “summer road trip” that lead to the creation of RSD, given that I’m turning thirty and potentially looking to start a family. Regardless, both Nick and I have decided to stick it out with this project because we believe in what the community has taught us very strongly, and we love what it does for men and women as a whole.

That, I suppose, is why we’ve continued to put out positive stuff, and to maintain a level of passion for this project: we have CHOSEN to be here. This is the “information age” – and what’s amazing about this project is sitting back and watching how the dissemination of ideas has lead to the evolution of a loosely defined modern philosophy for living life.

I hope you’re psyched about RSDN 2.0. Most of all, I hope you’ll contribute to furthering the evolution of this philosophy. Because I’ve done what I’m capable of to improve it, but there are still a lot of cool areas that can be worked on and developed as a COMMUNITY, and this is a site that we’ve created with the belief that that will continue.

Anyway, that’s a little history on what’s lead to the creation of this site. I’m actually writing this a few hours before the launch, just psyched out of my mind to see that this is finally happening. Thanks for reading it, and welcome to the new RSDN!!!

Tyler

PS: I’ve scrambled last minute to throw up some personal photo galleries, as well as put some old RSDN threads as the “User Articles” just to fill up the home page. But I’m psyched to see you putting up your own stuff. A few of the features are a bit hard to navigate right now, and we’re working to improve the functionality ASAP. Play around with it, you WILL quickly figure it out.