Acid Horizon The Politics of Ghosting: Dominic Pettman on Absence, Intimacy, and Digital Life
Sep 28, 2025
Dominic Pettman, a cultural theorist and author of "Ghosting: On Disappearance," dives deep into the phenomenon of ghosting, exploring its roots beyond dating into friendships and family dynamics. He discusses how hyperconnectivity and the attention economy normalize ghosting, connecting it to emotional fallout like paranoia and depression. Pettman uncovers the psychoanalytic dimensions of absence and its impact on identity. He also critiques the ethical implications of blocking and offers insights on reclaiming genuine social interactions in our digitized world.
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Ghosting As Old Practice, New Form
- Ghosting crystallized as a term in internet culture but traces back centuries as disappearance and absence.
- Digital infrastructures amplify a longstanding human practice by making silent severance easier and more visible.
Platforms Exceed Our Social Limits
- Hyperconnectivity and platform scaling push us past Dunbar limits, turning relationships into sortable social capital.
- That pressure normalizes pruning connections and makes ghosting a practical, if fraught, social calculus.
Disappearance Across Domains
- Ghosting extends well beyond dating into family, friendships, and work, producing similar feelings of abandonment.
- Sudden withdrawals create structuring absences that mirror older forms of disappearance and can be deeply traumatic.
