Now you see them, now you don’t. If there’s a phenomenon that defines the bizarre dating difficulties millennials must bravely face, it’s ghosting. The term may have only been officially added to the dictionary in February 2017, but the truth is, we’ve been dealing with this brutal behavior for years — basically since texting became the default form of communication for dating. Just look to the thousands upon thousands of tweets about ghosting for proof: It may be cruel, but it's also super common.
And it can happen to anyone, too. Maybe you thought you hit it off with a Tinder match, but after you reach out to set up a third date, you never hear from them again. Or maybe you’ve been seeing someone your friend set you up with for a whole month, and one day, they just stop responding to your messages with playful memes. When it comes to ghosting, there are no rules. You can be ghosted after two weeks or two months. The one thing all ghosting situations have in common? One person is left scratching their heads about what went wrong.
If you’ve ever been ghosted, though, rest assured you’re not alone. It definitely sucks to play hide and seek with someone you’ve caught feelings for, but these tweets may make you feel a little better, because TBH, we’re all aboard the #strugglebus with you.
The ghosts don't go away after Halloween, as it turns out. Some of us just can't catch a break.
Baby steps are key when it comes to becoming a generally better human.
If you've felt the pain from being ghosted, you basically have no excuse to resort to it.
Being abandoned on read is straight up savage, y'all.
Look... if you can't handle me at my nerdiest, then you don't deserve me.
Ladies and gentleman, we may have found the loophole for ghosting being acceptable: cheap men.
Why do people ghost? It could be for any number of reasons, can sometimes comes down to cowardice, or simply straight up laziness. And while it's always OK to walk away from a relationship that isn't quite working, it often feels a tad awk to explain to someone that you’re not interested in seeing them again because they kiss like a monitor lizard flicking its tongue, or because TBH, you had as much spark as a lighter that’s fresh out of fuel. It can be scary to confront someone about your feelings (or in these cases, lack thereof). But you know what’s even scarier? Risking causing someone some serious emotional damage because you just can’t work up the courage to be straight them them.
Unfortunately, ghosting appears to be here to stay — at least for now. So, take some comfort in knowing that at least you’re not alone. Most of us have survived being ghosted at least once, and you know what? We all lived to tell the tale.
