Orbiting: A New Dating Trend That You Must Know

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The moment you come across the word 'orbiting', you will perceive it as something that is related to astronomy, something that means a celestial body revolving around another celestial body. But, this is not what you think and in the world of dating, orbiting has a different meaning.

Orbiting in a relationship is that situation where the person you have been seeing (dating) disappears all of a sudden, but still keeps a check on you through your social media handles. He or she will go through all your social media updates and might even like and comment on your post, but would avoid communicating with you in person.

Unlike ghosting, where a person disappears all of sudden into the thin air and cuts all sources of communication, orbiting is a bit different thing. The person who is orbiting will disappear but won't cut contacts and other details. Both of you might even bump into each other, though you never talk or hang out.

In ghosting, the ghostee (the one who ghosts) can't check on the victim. But in orbiting, one can constantly keep a check on their partner.

Priya (23) a software engineer from Delhi told Boldsky, "Sometime back, I became friends with a guy and both of us had mutual friends. We started to chat on a regular basis, but one day he asked me for a coffee and I agreed and he didn't turn up. On asking he replied that he will catch up some other day and all of sudden he disappeared just like that".

"One day to my astonishment, I saw he liked one of my post on Facebook. Also, he checked my Instagram stories. After 3 months he said, 'I am in your city. Let us meet and have a cup of coffee'. But he didn't tell me the venue and timings. He continued checking my social media posts. Eventually, I blocked him from all my social media accounts," she added.

Speaking on the same lines, 23-year-old Adya, who is a blogger from Bihar said Boldsky, "I met with a guy in a cultural event. We added each other on our social media accounts. Initial chatting turned out to be quite addictive for both of us. We decided to meet. One day he suddenly disappeared and stopped responding to my calls and messages, though he saw my Facebook stories. Since then, we didn't talk, the strange thing is he constantly stalks me on social media."

Also Read: Is Ghosting The Best Way To End A Relationship?

Technology can be a blessing and a boon. Though we can stay in touch with our partners throughout the day, when things go wrong in a relationship, technology can become a curse as well. In such a situation, orbiting can really hurt the person who is left behind, wondering what went wrong with their partner.

Priya says, "Initially I was quite anxious and worried about him, but eventually I came to know he was looking for a fling. All I expected from him was to keep me informed, but even that didn't happen. Checking social media posts and not replying to my messages reflected his immature behaviour. I felt cheated. Even after a year, I am having trust issues. "

No doubt, orbiting can destroy the person emotionally and have a devastating impact on a person. He or she might feel betrayed or cheated and it is also difficult to remain uncertain about one's worth in other person's life. Eventually, the victim might remove and block the orbiter from his/her social media account.

Also Read: Beware Of Submarining In Relationships, This New Trend Is So Uncool!

Therefore, it is important to be careful when you are choosing your partner. Before getting too involved, give time to your relationship and you will definitely know the true intentions of your partner.

Disclaimer: The names and other identifying details of the individuals have been changed to ensure their privacy.