No -that's silly - just have realistic expectations and dating to me requires a thick skin. Why are you interested in dating? Narrow that down first because that greatly affects the expectations. No need to use dating apps but no method will work if you have regular pity parties and regular blaming of society -we all have our moments -I did for sure after some colossally bad dates/first meets/interactions.
Timing and luck are factors. Most of it -for me-was about front line, proactive stuff without desperation and with a thick skin that I worked on as needed. But first be honest about why you want to date -with yourself -and be honest as far as whether you're ready to be open to treating people as individual human beings without too much of a negative/jaded "society has it out for me/woe is me" attitude -that's a huge turnoff and can be sensed a mile away from most people who have just basic common sense and basic natural intuition (even that is not required -the negativity oozes out and is fairly transparent).
When I was 20-ish I met men -through friends (this was 1980s), through religious organizations, at college, and met a long term boyfriend I was briefly engaged to when I was 20 -through a print personal ad. I also started doing volunteer work in my teens and have done so regularly for the last 40 years or so -I regularly have met people through volunteer work.