Dating was hard, but with technology it is harder.
Now add 'trickle ghosting' to the ever growing list of internet dating trends.
Trickle Ghosting is just one term in a long line of dating dictionary entries. Unlike ghosting, trickle ghosters don't disappear completely.
They just slow down communication to, well, a trickle.
One Reddit user shared her story on Wednesday and it went viral. Her partner of four years suddenly slowed down on all communication.
He would only answer her every couple of days.
In this case, this behavior lasted two months, and was worse than typical ghosting where the love interest disappears completely.
The anonymous user wrote:
"I can't say he fully ghosted me, because he would occasionally send me a message, and didn't remove me from any social media."
"From that point I'd try to contact him by calling, texting, sending a message on Facebook and he didn't respond."
"After about 4-6 days of no communication, he would end up sending me a couple of texts and then I wouldn't hear from him for several more days."
When she reached out to a friend about her ex's behavior, she was surprised to hear he told everyone they broke up. She added that her ex was cheating on her.
The post, which outlined the last few months of their communication, talks about finding out he had been cheating on her with someone they knew and who hung around with them. She also discussed how one of the causes of their relationship's demise was drugs.
She reveals her ex started using with his new lady, while keeping her, the original poster, in the dark.
Redditors showed their support for the anonymous poster.
@ruinedbykarma/redditor @Imperialyoghurt/redditor
@muchmeerkat/redditor @RealisticTowel/redditor
@DreamHappy/redditor
Other Redditors shared their own stories of relationship woes.
@my_firstrodeo/redditor
@morecoffeemorepower/redditor
Of course not everyone agrees with the other posters, or how she handled the situation.
User Protoaramis posted in response:
"4 years together but living apart. All she did after he ghosted is texting messages. Instead of taking situation in her hands visit him and recieve answers just seat there depressed for months. Texting messages 1 per week. Better person? Is it entire social media generation or just personal?"
This new word, and potential trend, follows a long list of troubling terms. One of the most recent ones is cloaking.
Rachel Thompson, a UK Mashable Reporter, explained in a video a recent dating nightmare.
"Cloaking is when a person doesn't just stand you up for a date, they also block you on any app that you've previously communicated on."
A term coined by eHarmony is "scrooging" which is dumping your partner before the holidays, just to avoid buying gifts for the other person.
There is also "phubbing" or snubbing your partner in order to check your phone, which one in ten people admitted to in a recent survey.
Let's not forget Gatsybying, named for the Great Jay Gatsby, where people flaunt a seemingly rich life style to attract crushes.
Worse yet is "stashing." This is where a person hides their significant other from friends and family, while avoiding posting about the relationship on social media.
It seems there is no end to how horrible people can be to each other in the dating world.
@GovPressOffice/X
@GabeGwoolley/X
@mikejstarks/Bluesky
@kidringo/Bluesky
@westieworld/Bluesky
@mztee8107/YouTube
@KarenPost-n7/YouTube
@h17636/YouTube