The Brief: Orbiting is a modern dating term that refers to when someone you've ceased contact with continues to "orbit" you via subtle social media interactions like watching your Instagram stories.
DEEP DIVE
The term orbiting is a popular way to refer to the phenomenon of when someone that has ghosted you lingers at the edges of your life online. The most traditional way of doing this is by watching someone’s Instagram stories – a subtle but trackable way to keep an eye on what someone is up to. People who have experienced orbiting note how frustrating and confusing it is to have someone lazily keeping an eye on them via social media when they don’t seem to want any substantial contact or relationship.
A guy orbiting a girl who isn’t interested and a couple that’s been dating for 5+ years are virtually indistinguishable entities
— mighty beanz fan account (@WillHartle) October 20, 2018
My favourite new dating term is #orbiting which means everyone who has broken all contact with you, still engages with you on social media and more so sees all your Insta stories.#dating #mentalhealth.
— Sonali Gupta (@guptasonali) September 26, 2018
I learned a new dating term #orbiting like a satellite, you know it’s there but you can’t see them
— Ti Chang (@DesignerTi) September 1, 2018