Soft-ghosting is the infuriating new dating trend you need to know about before it drives you mad
DATING can be a minefield, what with ghosting, bread-crumbing and monkeying, it’s enough to make your head spin.
And now there is a no term for you to grapple with as singletons are now becoming victims of soft ghosting.
According to Louise Troen, VP of International Media and Communications at Bumble, the term is fairly new to world of online dating.
According to the newly-coined term refers to when you’re messaging someone and rather than receiving a written reply, they simply ‘like’ your message.
It is the slightly less brutal sibling of ghosting, whereby a potential date just stops replying to you all together.
When tackling a “soft ghoster” Louise says that there are “no rules” when it comes to double messaging.
DATING TERMS TO GET YOUR HEAD AROUND
- BREADCRUMBING: Sending out flirty but non-committal messages to keep a potential lover just interested enough. Imagine leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for someone to follow.
- CUFFING: Serial singles pairing up for the colder months, when opportunities to get some are fewer and further between.
- DEEPLIKING: Showing you like somebody by scrolling back through their social media pictures and posts and liking them from months or even years before.
- E-FIT: When your social media posts and pictures are carefully curated so they serve as an online dating profile.
- FBO: Acronym for making a relationship “Facebook official”.
- GHOSTING: When all communication from the person you are dating suddenly ceases, with no explanation as to why you have been dumped. Savage.
- HAUNTING: When a ghoster starts liking your posts or even resumes following you on social media from beyond the grave. See also “zombieing”.
- LAYBY: When you date somebody who is just about OK while flirting with better options in the fast lane.
- MONKEYING: When you move from one relationship to the next without any time in between, like a monkey swinging from the branches of a tree.
- PEACOCKING: Dressing up for Instagram, or even IRL, to gain attention, like how peacocks use their tail feathers to lure a mate.
- SLOW-FADING: A supposedly kinder version of ghosting, where you slowly wind down contact with the person you have been dating, leaving longer and longer between your replies.
- UNCUFFING: Winter is over! Ditch your “cuff” in time for a summer of love.
- ZOMBIEING: When a ghoster suddenly resumes communication out of the blue, as if back from the dead.
She tells Glamour: “Remember to try and not assume anything as being lost in translation, cultural communication differences or generational nuances may play into how people respond - so it’s crucial to not assume anything in the initial instance.
“However it’s important to remember that whilst your match might just be busy or taking a time out, if you don’t feel like you’re receiving the level of engagement that suits you, it might be best to move on from this conversation and explore new opportunities.”
MOST READ IN FABULOUS
You heard it, don't be afraid to double message, but when it's time to call it a day, don't be a mug.
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