We Talk Every Day on Instagram, But You Don’t Know Me Anymore

The Illusion of Connection

I know your dog’s name.

I know you went to that sushi spot last week.

I know what filter you use on your stories and which angle you like your mirror selfies from.

But I don’t know how you are.

Not really.

And you don’t know me anymore, either.

The Meme Loop

Every morning, there’s a meme from you.

It lands in my DMs like a virtual “good morning.”

I heart it. Maybe send one back.

Maybe reply with a laughing emoji.

Maybe nothing at all.

We haven’t had a real conversation in months.

But we haven’t stopped talking, have we?

The New Form of Ghosting

You didn’t block me.

You didn’t unfollow.

You didn’t “leave me on read.”

Instead, you stayed in my orbit.

Reacting. Watching. Existing in the comment section.

And honestly? That kind of ghosting hurts more.

Because there’s no closure when the person never left - just faded.

Our Generation's Digital Decay

We grew up thinking attention = affection.

That a double tap meant “I care.”

That seeing “typing…” meant someone still wanted to talk.

But now, we live in this quiet void of digital performance.

We clap for each other’s curated lives while bleeding in private.

It’s connection without substance.

Intimacy without presence.

And somehow, that feels lonelier than being alone.

I Miss the Messy Parts

I miss when we used to talk at 1 a.m. about nothing.

When your messages weren’t just story reactions.

When you didn’t need a trending sound to tell me what you were feeling.

Now it’s just aesthetics.

And I’m not sure where we went.

Or if we’re still going anywhere at all.

The Quiet Goodbye

We still follow each other.

We still send memes.

We still exist in the same timeline.

But I’ve stopped hoping for a real message.

Because I think we both know:

We’re just scrolling through a friendship that already ended.

Your Turn:

Have you ever lost someone digitally before they were ever really “gone”?

Let’s talk about it in the comments.

Because maybe…

You’ve felt this, too.