Love In The Digital Age: 7 Wild Dating Trends Taking Over Gen Z

Gen Z no longer identifies with old-school romance, and the new and bizarre love trends are proof. If you haven't been living under a rock lately, you may have come across terms like ghosting, benching, breadcrumbing, or catfishing. With the hyper-connected, socially conscious generation ruling the dating front, love is getting glowy makeovers every day with redefined values, priorities, technological prowess, and most importantly, fascinating trends.

In this article, we will together navigate the uncharted territory of modern love and learn about new dating trends. Let's dive in below.

7 Newest Gen Z dating trends:

1. Caspering: Unlike ghosting, Caspering is slowly fading out when someone wants back their solo status. The trend is characterized by brief replies, delayed texts, and a firm disconnection. While this may be kinder than abrupt ghosting, it's still frustrating at the receiving end.

2. Affordating: Romance doesn't have to come with a hefty price tag, and "Affordating" is one charming trend that is proof. Affordating simply involves strolling hand-in-hand through a bustling street or enjoying a simple Netflix night rather than splurging on big gateways.

3. Avalanching: "Avalanching" is all about going beyond the set norms in pursuit of love. People can compromise on boundaries of age, distance, or interests to make the relationship work.

4. Breadcrumbing: Breadcrumbing is receiving a string of flirty texts, but never really heading to a real connection. Breadcrumbing is all about keeping someone engaged with subtle signals like "hey stranger" without ever committing to actual plans. The term is inspired by Hansel and Gretel, who followed a trail of breadcrumbs to find their way.

5. Orbitting: Orbitting is somewhat like ghosting but not entirely so, as the person who orbits the other makes themselves seen as they keep following the latter on social media, like their posts, view their stories, but never really forge a connection, forget a closure.

6. Throning: Throning is using someone's social status to leverage your own. In "throning," the pursuer courts a person who sits above their social status and uses the latter as a badge of honor to leverage their influence.

7. Textationship: In a relationship, sparks fly among the duo as they stay glued to each other through texts, sharing details about their day or maybe bitching about their boss, but they back out when meeting or taking it to the next level.