Whether in one way or another, we have all been stood up after a date. This, looking at it with perspective, is not something new at all. However, the rise of new technologies and the current habit of meeting people online, either through applications developed specifically for this or through social networks, has transformed this fact.
This is what happens with the so-called “gophering”, a curious term that, it seems, is increasingly common among what we could classify as “virtual relationships”. We tell you what it consists of and what risks it has.
What is gophering and what does it mean?
The first thing that catches your attention about gophering is its own meaning. Although we are increasingly accustomed to hearing certain peculiar Anglicisms to define more or less reprehensible behaviors associated with new technologies, in this case its origin is even more striking.
Gophers (geomids) They are rodents that live in America and are quite similar to what moles have been like.. Like these, they usually dig underground tunnels through which they usually move. A concept that soon became associated with certain Internet attitudes, and that finally led to gophering itself.
Basically, to understand gophering it is necessary to understand the new ways of meeting someone that technology facilitates today. Gophering is understood as flirt or pair with someone over the Internet, developing a high degree of intimacy, after which one of the parties disappears without a trace.
That is, a current way of standing up that is becoming more and more common, and that can be very unpleasant for those who suffer from it.
Why is gophering carried out?
If you pay attention to many current relationships, it is clear that the Internet, some applications and social networks create a perfect breeding ground for developing gophering.
That is, to maintain a certain relationship with someone, and then break it right off the bat. For a start, Physical distance allows escape to be much easier and more comfortable than in conventional relationships.
Why does gophering occur? There are reasons for all tastes. From people who lie in relevant aspects and decide to get out of the way before the other person discovers the truth, to those who They simply seek banal entertainment that they get bored of after a while..
New technologies, it is clear, allow the ego to be fed and relationships to be generated quickly, even without having met in person. Not to mention the component of idealization that the lack of real contact can bring with it on countless occasions.
The main problem with gophering, in any case, is how difficult it is to combat, given the circumstances. Perhaps the only really valid way to do this is to develop great skepticism when you meet someone new online.
Although of course, this can also lead to you missing things. New challenges that only time will (or will not) normalize.
