"When you're swiping on dating apps, the one thing you're looking for is a true connection. Not two-sentence conversations that seem to fizzle in an instant, but rather, genuine chats and flirty banter that get you excited to meet IRL. It's why it feels almost euphoric when a match starts texting you 24/7. It's fun to wake up to "good morning" messages and to have someone to talk to throughout the day."
"False intimacy is that feeling of connection that outpaces the reality of your connection, Avgitidis tells Bustle. "The term feels new because TikTok gave it a name, but the pattern has existed forever," she says. "Before texting, it was long AIM messages and T9 thumb effort. Before that, it was handwritten letters to someone you barely knew. The medium changes; the emotional confusion doesn't.""
False intimacy denotes an illusion of emotional closeness with someone not truly known. Dating apps foster rapid rapport and frequent validation that produce dopamine-driven feelings resembling early romance. Constant messaging, inside jokes, and intense online banter can create a perceived history and premature emotional investment without real-world foundation. That accelerated bond can persist into initial dates, prompting unrealistic assumptions about compatibility. Slowing communication, prioritizing in-person meetings, observing consistency between words and actions, and assessing shared values help differentiate genuine connection from false intimacy and reduce the risk of misjudging potential partners.
Read at Bustle
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