What is Ghosting

It's when someone cuts all ties with you suddenly without a word of explanation, stops picking up when you ring, dosen't reply to texts etc. As if they never existed, were a ghost so to speak.
It is most often applied to romantic associations but can apply to friendships

I've been on the receiving end of ghosting, and its devastating. I dont think I'm toxic, more that the person who did it to me (fiance) is a cowardly idiot..

Thankyou. Only a coward without a heart could do that or condone it. Makes my blood run cold, what goes on in the minds of these people. If you have something to say, say it. If you want the friendship or relationship to end, have the guts to explain why, you won't be seeing them again by the sound of it anyway, you owe someone that was a big part of your life that at least.

*the practice of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication.
"I thought ghosting was a horrible dating habit reserved for casual flings*

What would I do without Google, first time I'd heard about it though !

MissAdventure yes he obviously was
Such an awful thing to do in your cercumstances.

Sadly, from what I've heard, it can happen in family relationships, too. Not as common there, I don't think. Usually, there's some communication between family members, even if it's just to send nasty texts to each other. But I've heard of parents/gps (and siblings, ac, etc.) being ghosted, also.

"Cowardly?" Yes. And cruel, too, imo, to just deliberately disappear without saying why.

I'm not talking, of course, of those cases where the ghosted person has already been told what's wrong and just didn't listen. Nor am I referring to those cases where the 2 people have been arguing ad nauseum and then one just "disappears." To me, those ones are saying, "I've had enough fighting - I'm done" in a nonverbal way. But people who seem to simply "vanish" from one's life? Ugh!

Was reading about this recently...I understood it to mean to cut someone completely from your life as in:. someone who completely drains the life out of you...full of negativity .....a detrimental friendship....makes you feel bad about yourself. I think this is a fairly new expression for dropping a friend who does all the above and wants to move on from the friendship,has probably tried different ways to do this in a kinder way that has"nt worked.

I'm afraid I've ghosted someone once. I was so angry I was afraid of all the hurtful things I might say so it seemed best to just disappear from their lives. They were a couple who were my husbands friends. When he became ill they were always too busy to visit. I did let them know when he died and they came to the funeral but after thatI didn't want anything to do with them.
Oddly they did try to keep in contact. I couldn't work out why they kept bothering. Probably need some other viewpoints here, please.

Maybe through guilt they kept in touch? If you had responded to them, then the poor support they gave would be brushed under the carpet and their consciences would be clear? I'm no expert though, so just a thought.

I wonder if 'ghosting' is a method of last resort? I have seen on here people, who wish to pursue broken friendships to the point where the other person must feel pretty hounded. Maybe people just think the least said soonest mended?

If you know what the other person is like and they may be emotionally clingy, then I guess you might just want to walk away. What can you say in the face of unrelenting neediness.

One person's one more card or letter is another person's nightmare if they have been trying to extricate themselves for ages. I am not aying that there aren't any cowards out there but conversley some people don't take the hint.

Endings are always blunt instruments of one sort or another.... they are part of life. We have so many ways on keeping in touch that the 'ghosting' is very apparent, but that is life.

Why do they have to keep inventing new words to describe what was known before as 'cutting someone out of your life' or 'ignoring someone'?

My nephew did this to me after his father ( my beloved brother) died in the USA. He had me and the children travel to meet him in NY and spent time looking at the letters and photos I had brought. It was a terribly emotional time.

Then we came home and never heard from him again. He is alive and well and now has a wife and children, but has cut himself off completely from all family.

My DD was ghosted by her boyfriend of nearly a year.
Turned out he wanted a more serious relationship and was upset that she didn't want that. She just hadn't picked up on his clues and would have wanted it if he'd asked.

She'd still have given the relationship a chance (which he did want) if he'd apologised for upsetting her, because of his distress at the time. (She'd made clear how upsetting it was, and that she was worried something had happened to him.)

He seemed to only want to complain about how she'd not been devoted enough in the past, though, and to believe that ghosting was a reasonable action to take.

Very disappointing as they'd seemed to get on so well, before that.

Well, me too. My fiance was a huge part of not only my life, but that of my daughter and grandchildren, as I was in his parents and children's lives.
I'm still finding bits and bobs of his/ours around the flat, as everything was just left: clothes, paperwork, things with supposedly sentimental value..

@Eglantine19, you criticise how this couple failed to meet your expectations at a time when you were under considerable stress. Is it possible that you stated your needs in a way that could have been construed as criticising or aggressive? Or maybe they just found it hard to cope with an end-of-life scenario? But they seem to want to be friendly now. You will be forgiven for any perceived rudeness - a simple 'Phew! I think I'm over the worst of it now. Can we meet up?' will I'm sure be welcomed.

I have just been ghosted by someone that I loved very much and supported for years and years. I am a kind giving person never toxic, I have no idea what I did but I was blocked and ignored and blanked. I was so confused I rang the hospitals and police to check nothing had happened. I am still grieving over the lost of my husband and this so called ghosting by someone I opened my home, my heart and my purse to has added to that grieve. At least I know why my lovely husband has gone. This was a member of my family so I have also lost others close to her. Its painful and cruel, all they had to say was hay go away and I would have. If any one is thinking of ghosting think again is it really justifiable ?

I expect I was a bit not exactly aggressive but pushy. Every day my husband would ask "Has Mick phoned" or Is Mick coming round?" And I would have to say no. Thankfully (?) as the illness progressed he got a bit confused and I would just lie and say yes but you were asleep or oh he's coming tomorrow, by which time my DH would have forgotten.
I was polite to them at the funeral but I couldn't have gone out to lunch with them and made pleasant conversation. Couldn't even answer the phone when their number came up. Perhaps I should have let rip!

I was ghosted by an old friend and was broken hearted about it, but I managed to respect her right not to be contacted. (Though I did send a Christmas card for a couple of years). In the end I just accepted that our paths had gone different ways and sadly the part of our lives that we had shared was in the past. I did feel rejected though and that always hurts.

I was ghosted by a friend I used to meet regularly for coffee once a month.At first she used to say she could not make it this particular month but wanted to make another date. This happened several times until finally she did not respond at all.We only used to correspond by email.I have just let it go though may send a Christmas email.

I have sort of been ghosted and I have ghosted someone. I ghosted a receptionist at my doctors who asked me how old I was and when I avoided telling her, she said that she could look at my medical records. I was so furious that I ghosted her. Then as the years went but I softened and started to speak to her again and she ignored me.
I have been sort of ghosted by someone who is essentially a loner. I think I probably over whelmed her with attention, as I am not. She just didn't respond to any approach. It was a bit galling as we had been on holiday together twice. However, I just moved on as life is short and you lose some and gain some.

I've been "ghosted" and then spoken to again once and now ghosted again.

In my experience it is cowardly and vindictive. Cowardly because the former friend won't disclose the real reason and vindictive because it's hurtful and intended to "punish" me. Even defendants are entitled to know what they have been accused of.

If people want to ghost others - and I wouldn't want to stay friends with someone who treats me that way anyway - let them come out with what I did wrong.

After all, I might learn something that I need to know.

I suppose I was afraid of the stream of vitriol that might come out of my mouth. If they didn't care about not coming to see him when he was alive, telling them that I thought they were shits why I didn't want to see them wouldn't have made any difference. But maybe I was doing a tit for tat.

'ghosted' is a silly word IMO. All it means is 'ignored'.