After Ghosting Comes Breadcrumbing, The Latest New Dating Trend
With technology now ingrained in most people’s daily lives, the digital age is also affecting how relationships play out, bringing new practices, habits and terms.
And after the emergence of “ghosting”, when someone suddenly ceases communication with a person they are dating, comes the latest dating trend – breadcrumbing.
Breadcrumbing is a term being used to describe people who lead you on by randomly contacting you after long periods of time, only to disappear again, before repeating the cycle months down the line.
In most cases, breadcrumbers will send intermittent messages, which are sometimes flirtatious, hinting that they still have an interest in you.
However, as soon as any kind of commitment is mentioned, they become non-committal and will eventually go silent until the next time they decide to message, and the cycle repeats.
Alicia Winokur, graduate of Mount Holyoke College told the New York Times: “The worst type of breadcrumber is the one who resurfaces every six months, and like the Loch Ness monster, you almost can’t believe this creature has come back into your life. But there he is, saying, ‘Hey, I was just thinking about you.’
“It’s like a meerkat poking its head up. But not nearly as cute.”
This new dating trend – which feels like an age-old practice made much easier to accomplish with technology – also encompasses things such as liking social media photos and posts after months of not speaking.
A professor at M.I.T, Sherry Turkle, told the New York Times: “These are connections, not conversations. They can have the paradoxical effect of making the person who receives them feel let down rather than gratified, but then, confused: Is one asking for too much? Should one feel satisfied with a smiley face or a series of exclamation marks or a string of emojis? What constitutes being recognized?”
Read more about it here.
