Social media has brought back the term “limerence.” Despite being coined in the ‘70s, the term for “profound romantic infatuation” has taken root on socials, particularly in the last five years. There are over 40K posts on both TikTok and Instagram tagged #limerence, and searches for it are up 500% on Google since 2021. But social media is not just exposing more young people to the idea of obsessive thinking about a crush—it’s actively making their limerence worse. Whether they’re paying for Meta’s access to profile viewers or simply creating an ideal fantasy version of someone based on their profile, the tools for young people to deepen their infatuation are seemingly infinite. These access points multiply the moments someone in limerence gets a hit of dopamine off thinking about their crush, where for previous generations this yearning may have happened in person or over letters. (Washington Post)
👀 Read more from YPulse: How Gen Z is Finding Love on Social Media
