It is obvious that relationships in the 21st century are extremely different than relationships in the past, and that has been proven true through “ghosting.” Individuals in relationships are seeing the act of ghosting to end a relationship and it has grown wildly popular through the years.

Ghosting has recently sprung up in today’s culture as a verb that refers to ending a romantic relationship by cutting off all contact and ignoring the former partner’s attempts to reach out. This is used to end relationships as quickly as possible, but ends up causing a world of hurt for the one being ghosted.

11% of 1,000 of American adults have admitted to ghosting someone according to a poll ran by Huffington Post in late 2014. Elle magazine also held a survey and concluded that 16.7% men and 24.2% of women had ghosted someone at sometime during their lives.

So why have people resorted to ghosting? There are many possible and logical answers. One is that people have completely forgotten how to treat someone in a relationship because it has changed so much, especially in the past couple of years.

The society has completely morphed the art of dating and maintaining a healthy relationship. People are more likely to be  focused on their phones instead of  the date itself. Also, dating has taken over the internet world, making actually finding a date that much easier. It might be easy enough to get a date, but online dating proves to be difficult to get a quality date and yes, there’s a difference. Online dating has opened the doors for ghosting, because it has become so easy to cut someone off who was only ever a mere face on a screen.

Another reason for the recent growth in ghosting is that breaking up is flat out hard. Once someone realizes that their relationship is going downhill, it is hard for them to end it with a clean break and it can seem easier to just cut the other part off completely. Thousands of people worldwide have resorted to ghosting simply because it is easier than breaking up with someone.

Usually ghosts use ghosting in hopes that it will be easier for them, but unfortunately, that is simply not the case. Ghosts tend to feel terrible after ghosting someone and end up beating themselves up over the pain they caused the other person, especially because it is so easily avoidable. More often than not, ghosts begin ghosting because they are unaware of the level of pain it can ensue for both parties and when they do realize it, it is already too late.

Although ghosting does seem like the most easy and efficient way to breakup with someone for the ghost, it can be far more painful than any other breakup method for the person being ghosted. Those who do get ghosted tend to feel even more angry and hurt than they would be if they had just gotten broken up with normally.

Being ghosted is an emotionally draining experience, because the ones getting ghosted are left with absolutely no explanation and are forced to assume the worst. All of a sudden, they are questioning everything that could have possibly gone wrong, leading to overthinking, and a whole lot of pain.

So although ghosting has become  popular in today’s society, it seems to be ultimately one of the worst ways to end a relationship. Ghosting is bad news on both ends and results in a great deal of pain no matter what.

If a relationship does have to end for whatever reason, keep in mind the negative effects that ghosting has on everyone involved and break it off in a more respectable manner, because it will be much more healthy and beneficial for both people.