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Ghosting, Ghosted, Gone: Is Ghosting Someone Really The Worst Thing?
Sometimes ghosting gets a bad rap! Confessions of a former serial ghoster
I remember the first time I read about ghosting, as it relates to dating. It was one of these deep think pieces about how emotionally cruel and damaging it is. I paused as I realized “Uh oh, am I the baddie?”.
Ghosting for the uninitiated is defined as:
Ghosting is a relatively new colloquial dating term that refers to abruptly cutting off contact with someone without giving that person any warning or explanation for doing so. Even when the person being ghosted reaches out to re-initiate contact or gain closure, they’re met with silence.1 As you can see, it’s called ghosting because it involves someone essentially “vanishing” into thin air as if they were a ghost.
The term is generally used in reference to a romantic relationship, but it can technically refer to any scenario where contact unexpectedly ceases, including friendships and family relationships.*
Confession, when I was younger, I ghosted. I ghosted a LOT, ok.
I was also ghosted myself plenty too, though, so it all evens out in the end?
We didn’t even have a word for ghosting when I last dated. I think we just called it blanking or blowing off…
