GHOSTING noun (goh-sting)

noun
1. Informal. a. the practice of suddenly ending all contact with a person without explanation, especially in a romantic relationship: He was a victim of ghosting.

b. Also called French goodbye, Irish goodbye. the act of leaving a social event or engagement suddenly without saying goodbye: Ghosting might be the best option if we want to get home before midnight.
2. Television. the appearance of multiple images, or ghosts, on a television screen.
3. Digital Technology. the removal of comments, threads, or other content from a website or online forum without informing the poster, keeping them hidden from the public but still visible to the poster.


Quotes

In the case of ghosting, a lack of accountability has brought out the worst in humanity, but applying behavioral science to UX design could be the key to unlocking the solution and with it the next billion dollar idea, paving the way for a new era of ghost-free online dating.
--*Jack Rogers,*"Ghosting -- Dating's Billion Dollar Problem?" Forbes, August 28, 2018


Among younger generations, ghosting has “almost become a new vocabulary” in which “no response is a response,” says Amanda Bradford, CEO and founder of The League, a dating app. Now, “that same behavior is happening in the job market,” says Bradford, who’s experienced it with engineering candidates who ghosted her company.
--*Chip Cutter,*"People are 'ghosting' at work, and it's driving companies crazy," LinkedIn, June 23, 2018



Origin

The dating sense of ghosting is first recorded in 2005–10. It’s possibly linked to the expression get ghost “to leave immediately,” which gained popularity in 1990s hip-hop.