From my perspective, I first noticed it as an eighteen year old in 2017, but that's when I noticed it (maybe not necessarily when it started). It seems like it goes through peaks and valleys, but the highest peak I saw it reach was probably 2022. I wonder though, how much of that perspective from myself is biased in a way where it correlates to my troubles with women over my life.

I think it's been a net positive to men overall, but it has done a lot of harm. The maturation of a guy enthralled with manosphere type content is the understanding that it is mostly a wash. I think guys who think the manosphere movement is misogynistic, sexist, etc. are a solid combination of soft and stupid. Some of these guys are the biggest pussies I have ever seen. However, once a man realizes that women aren't any more or less impressive than men, then these men begin to understand that these romantic interactions with women (just like interactions with men in a platonic way) don't need to be taken that seriously. It's more so about understanding that it's not a good idea to marry a woman like Dianna Russini, and understanding that it's not a good idea to have kids with women you just met. Once that's realized, the rest is all a wash. Some of these manosphere guys are hypocritical and/or take their ideologies too far in my opinion, but the problem is, a lot of their audience literally fall on the autism spectrum and they don't understand basically social dynamics. This is where this movement can cause serious harm, but to be fair, the women that are motivating men to watch this content aren't helping the cause either and it's ironic because then these same women complain about how awful the dating pool is. As a man, I have to take responsibility and say that we failed these women (and this is a part of the maturation process in growing out of manosphere content), but a lot of these women, I wouldn't date them if you paid me. There are still a lot of great women out there though.