We met two days ago. They’re so cute; I’m in love. However, they haven’t answered any of my text messages since our date. I don’t understand why; I thought the date was fun. This train of thought is becoming all-too common.
In this case, there is a big possibility that this person was ghosted by their date. Many young adults use dating apps as resources to find people to be in relationships with. Users like to use these apps to connect with people and have long-term or casual relationships. The heart of dating apps can be controversial; you never know what the other person you matched with on the app could do. They could have a tendency to harm others.
The term ghosting refers to a situation in which you first meet someone online. Everything before the first in-person interaction seems “meant to be,” but once you both meet up, it all changes. After the meetup, you message the other person to mention you had a great time with them, but they do not respond. Ghosting can be represented by being left on delivery or being left on read over text.
Dating apps can negatively impact our society due to non-authentic connections and the possibility of being ghosted. Many young adults avoid the idea of dating apps due to how they limit perceptions of attractiveness to physicality instead of a person’s personality. When you first meet someone in person, you are often scared to meet this person, so the automatic thought is to “ghost” them.
The psychological impact of being ghosted can make a person feel discouraged about how they feel about themselves. At least 30 percent of people in the United States have experienced ghosting. Being ghosted can create trauma for a person as they do not know what exactly is going on. They tend to think about every single scenario that happened during their meetup: Was I being awkward? Did I say something to offend them? Was I not pretty enough? What is wrong with me?
Having negative thoughts, especially after the instance of being ghosted by someone you deeply thought would be the “perfect” person for you, is expected. However, it’s crucial to remember that there is nothing wrong with you and you should never think negatively about yourself because of what a person thinks about you. Your self-worth should never be tied to being ghosted. It can create heartbreak at the moment, but it shows that there will be someone else out there in the world that will be more deserving of your time. In reality, a person is only ghosting because they believe that is the only way to escape the situation without hurting the other person. But when it comes to dating life in this generation, finding a decent person who won’t hurt you can be challenging because disappearing seems like the “easy way out.” But in reality, when you ghost a person, the only thing it is doing is hurting the person. If you are talking to someone and you no longer want to continue the relationship, it’s essential to be upfront and not waste their time. Open communication is key in any relationship. But if you are on the other side of the ghosting, just know that nothing is your fault and that someone else is more deserving of your time and attention.