‘Polter-Ghosting’ Is The Latest Toxic Dating Trend (And It Might Be Worse Than Ghosting)

76 percent of people dating have been impacted by ghosting, the abrupt end of any and all communication with someone they had been dating or talking to in a romantic way. This means they stop engaging with on social media, responding to texts, and ignoring calls. Basically, they disappear without a trace and it seriously sucks.

Ghosting has a number of negative mental health effects including reported feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, depression, anger, and more from those who have been ghosted. Not only that, ghosting can make people afraid to date in the future. Moreover, a 2020 study even found that ghosting can lead to lower life satisfaction and increased loneliness. So, yeah, really not great!

And if ghosting wasn’t bad enough, now there is its evil twin “polter-ghosting” we need to worry about. And honestly? It might be worse than ghosting.

While ghosting applies to a cease of virtual communication, polter-ghosting is IRL ghosting in the form of standing someone up for a planned and confirmed date.

For the person being polter-ghosted, there is the added vulnerability of showing up for a date only to have the other party never arrive (and never explain or reach out again). It feels humiliating to say the least.

Polter-ghosting has become so commonplace that dating app Bumble’s new Community Guidelines are aiming to banish polter-ghosters once and for all. On Bumble, those who experience this treatment will be able to report the polter-ghost to the app. After enough offenses, the polter-ghoster will be banned from Bumble.

Here’s the thing: it is almost 2024. We are well into a place in humanity where it should not be difficult to treat others with respect and consideration. Enough is enough.