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Why Ghosters Pull Disappearing Acts And How To Deal With This Hurtful Dating Phenomenon

Nebojsa - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer, Katharina Buczek.

Ghosting is the modern-day equivalent of someone just disappearing into thin air. One day, you could be having a great time out on a date or engaging in a riveting conversation over text.

Then, the next day, you’re met with radio silence and a bunch of unanswered messages.

This phenomenon is the kind of thing that can make even the most confident singles begin to question their worth– wondering if they did anything or where they went wrong.

But the truth is that ghosting is not really anything new. Sure, the term has gained a ton of popularity in recent years– all thanks to social media and dating apps like Tinder. Back in the day, though, similar situations still happened.

Let’s say you met a guy out at a bar in 1990 and exchanged numbers. Or you even went on a first date with a man, and he said he would call you the next morning.

At the time, if someone never followed up and called you back, you would just assume they were uninterested and move on to another potential suitor.

With the constant connectivity of cell phones and social media, though, this same outcome can feel significantly more hurtful. I mean, being rejected and ghosted stings more when all your date had to do was spend 10 seconds typing out a text, right?

This brings us to the question of why people even choose to ghost others in the first place. While it may just seem unnecessary, there are actually a variety of reasons why people resort to this option.

Nebojsa – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

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