By Nick Erickson, Staff writer

A term coined by millennials, ghosting has become the new way to end relationships

Times have undoubtedly changed in the world of dating. In years past, when a couple’s relationship was to come to an end, people would attempt to handle the situation directly. Shifting to present day, a new term has been coined to summarize how many relationships conclude: ghosting.

As the name suggests, ghosting is the act of disappearing from the radar of a partner, rather than a formal “goodbye.” In doing this, one partner cuts off all contact with the other and dismisses any attempts of them reaching back out. 

This term, coined by millennials for millennials, holds a deeper context and stipulation about the current state of dating. Murray State students have shared their opinions, insights and past experiences on the matter.

Hannah Crawford, junior from Auburn, Kentucky, said she admits to ghosting others in the past.

“I was reconnecting with an ex a few years back, and she started acting psycho,” Crawford said. “Out of the blue, I stopped talking to her, and blocked her on everything.”

Danielle White, sophomore from Elizabeth, Kentucky, said she has been ghosted in a previous relationship.

“This past summer, my now ex-boyfriend of a year and a half went off his rocker and broke up with me,” White said. “He randomly decided to move schools, dump me and has not talked to me once in the past eight months.”

Meredith Payne, freshman from Owensboro, Kentucky, said she has never been ghosted but believes it’s the wrong thing to do, “especially if you care about the other human being at all.”

“I don’t know why you would leave them without any explanation at all,” Payne said. “I think that’s pretty cowardly.”

When thinking about how “ghosting” plays out in this generation’s time, it’s important for one to look at dating from the perspective of someone who was raised in a previous generation.

Teresa Porter, staff member at Murray State, believes that ghosting is a cruel thing to do to someone.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Porter said. “If that had happened to me when I was younger, I would most likely had [sic] cried.”

Porter said things were different when she was younger and “ghosting” was not a prevalent problem.

“Compared to what we did back then, the young people of today do not take breaking up the same way as my generation,” she said.

On the subject of modern dating as a whole, Porter believes that people tend to be hasty and rush into things. She advises students to slow down when it comes to dating.

“I see many students on campus getting married and starting families way too early,” Porter said. “I advocate dating but I would recommend not getting serious until you’ve had the chance to date more people.”