What’s up with men who you’ve been intimate with that stop talking to you but continue to like all your photos and stories? One guy helped me build my bed, then was busy on the weekend. Didn’t invite me to anything. Continued to like every photo/story. Not make plans again the following weekend and then when I call him out on his likes, he says ok I’ll stop with the likes. I asked him why he didn’t just say he’s not interested? And he didn’t read the message for hours. So I blocked him.
Hot take: Instagram is The Devil. You know, kind of how Facebook used to be The Devil? (It still is, but for different reasons.)
There are a few types of people who do what this man is doing.
The Bare Minimum Match - You and they met on a dating app. You had great banter and were flirty with each other. When you brought up meeting in real life they told you to pick a day and place. You finally meet and you're hooked. Soon, you notice they go from attentive to aloof. You don't hear from them other than a few likes on a recent Instagram post. They're doing the bare minimum to keep you on the hook while they date around.
The Instigator - These ones know you well enough that if they like enough photos but don't contact you in any official capacity you'll do exactly what you did and call them out. They like making you crazy. It's the drama they seek.
The Orbiter - This is the person that dumped you but stays abreast of what you post and who you're with. They don't want to be with you, but they also don't want you to forget them. Not toxic at all.
The Time Killer - This person is the one that pulls out their phone while they're sitting at the DMV, bored out of their minds. They aimlessly toggle from app to app with no real purpose, liking photos and and Tik Toks. They're literally nothing behind why they show up as having viewed your story. You just happened to be one of the profiles or stories they happened to swipe through.
The Blast From The Past- These ones are The Worst. They're either low on options or recently got dumped. It's their hope that if they like enough of your photos, you'll message them and you and they can pick up where you left off.
To be honest, I don't think there's as much intention behind their likes as some people think. We want to believe they're giving us this attention because they regret their decision to let us go or are somehow reminiscing about time we spent together. More often than not, they're either bored, feeling curious, or were using the gesture as a replacement for legitimate effort.