Ghosting

Ghosting may refer to:

Ghosting (relationships)

For other used see Ghosting (disambiguation)

Ghosting refers to the act of breaking off a relationship ( often used in the context of intimate relationships) by ceasing all communication and contact with the former partner without any apparent warning or justification, as well as avoiding and/or ignoring and refusing to respond in any way to the former partner’s attempts to reach out or communicate.

Origin of term

The term first appeared in 2014, but became versed in popular usage by 2015 via numerous articles on high profile celebrity relationship dissolutions, and went on to being employed in common language with it being the subject of numerous articles and discussions on the dating and relationships in various media. It was included in the Collins dictionary in 2015.

In personal relationships

Ghosting has been considered as being a type of behaviour that can be especially traumatic for those on the receiving end, due to the psychological effects of ostracism and rejection and those with low self esteem can be especially vulnerable to negative emotional and psychological consequences as a result of it.

Ghosting (identity theft)

Ghosting is a form of identity theft in which someone steals the identity, and sometimes even the role within society, of a specific dead person (the "ghost") who is not widely known to be deceased. Usually, the person who steals this identity (the "ghoster") is roughly the same age that the ghost would have been if still alive, so that any documents citing the birthdate of the ghost will not be conspicuously incorrect if appropriated by the thief now claiming to be that person.

The use of counterfeit identification falsely documenting a completely fictional identity is not ghosting, as false identification cannot be used to obtain social services or interact with government agencies or law enforcement officials. The purpose of ghosting is to enable the ghoster to claim for his own use an existing identity that is already listed in government records -- an identity that is dormant because its original possessor is dead.

Ghosting is based on the premise (now less justified than in previous times) that separate government agencies do not share a total exchange of information. Therefore, a ghoster can obtain a passport or Social Security benefits in the name of a dead person because the agencies in charge of those services do not routinely cross-check an applicant's history to determine if a death certificate has been issued in that person's name.