To be honest, the tone doesn't work for me at all. The guy is shallow and he's being only partially apologetic for it. For a guy that looks first to appearance and 2nd to compatibility, of course he would have some trouble with online dating.
The whole point of online dating is that it's an alternative way to find compatibility before physical attraction. Something this guy could never do.
The final Quote : "Going back to square one with the searches, the emails, the texting, the chatting before you even meet someone for the first time wasn't something my cynicism would really allow."
That sums it up perfectly. The guy has a physical bias cause that's what he means when he says 'meet them'. What about 'meeting them' in the sense of personality, compatibility, mutual dreams?
He's got a severe old world bias and has no understanding of what it means to date online.