The Psychology Behind Soft Launching in Relationships

Social media has now assumed a primary role in our lives. Therefore, we feel the need to reveal and share all the good aspects of our life here. During this digital age, people have widely adopted the concept of ‘soft launching’. Soft launching is a slow-moving way of revealing your new partner to your social media followers without fully disclosing their identity. Often, it involves ambiguous pictures like holding hands, dinner plates with a glimpse of their date, solo pictures of them walking in front of you, etc.

One may ask if there is a term ‘soft launch’; do we also have a ‘hard launch’? The answer is yes! As discussed earlier, a soft launch is a gentler, more private way of showcasing your partner, while a hard launch leaves no doubts or questions about one’s partner. It involves posting a clear picture on social media, tagging the partner, changing relationship status, etc.

We might wonder what makes people not reveal their partners directly to the world but rather show glimpses of them. The answer lies within the psychology of soft launch in dating. If we take a deeper look into this trend, it reveals the attitude towards modern romance.

Read More: The Psychology Behind Love and Romance

Why Do People Prefer ‘Soft Launching’?

1. Balancing Privacy and Validation

It is a natural human tendency to want validation from other people. Everyone loves the approval and admiration of their social circle. On the other hand, you might also need to protect your and your partner’s privacy. Soft launching is the middle ground and a perfect balance between them both. This is a very controlled release of information that gives others enough to know while still protecting your relationship from criticism and scrutiny.

2. Space for Self-Identity

Even though you are involved with someone romantically, you still like to maintain your sense of self. It helps you protect the identity of yourself. If your partner hard launches you on their social media, you might be merely viewed as their partner or their ‘half’ rather than as an independent person. This can also positively impact the overall relationship satisfaction of both parties involved in this relationship. This trend proves to be useful when one is pressured by societal norms.

3. Maintaining Curiosity

You might have seen celebrities participate in this trend numerous times before. By doing this, they get their followers and the news outlets talking about them and their private lives. It gives publicity and engagement on social media all while their privacy is still protected. Moreover, soft launching also creates an air of mystery. People may react to these pictures, comment, share them, or even direct message you to know more. This increased engagement is beneficial. Furthermore, a need for ambiguity is felt to stay away from criticism. People are intentionally vague about their relationships to avoid being vulnerable and attracting unwanted talk while still wanting to attract positive and playful attention. Even if they break up for some reason, they don’t have to go through a public embarrassment.

Read More: Breakup A Hard Challenge to Move On…

4. Fear of Failure

As mentioned, no one wants to go through the public embarrassment of a breakup and full disclosure of their life on social media. A soft launch helps to keep the relationship more secure until both partners feel more comfortable with it. It might be uncomfortable to address the followers when a relationship is over if one has already disclosed the identity of their partner. It is a very cautious approach as people want to avoid the emotional and social cost of breaking up under a social eye.

5. Avoiding Social Comparison

One of the worst things social media has birthed is negative social comparison. People compare their lives to those of others which fosters jealousy, envy, and resentment. When people evaluate their lives concerning others, it can create pressure to match someone else’s romantic gestures or displays. This competitiveness can hamper privacy and negatively impact the romantic relationship.

Read More: Social comparison in the age of Social media

Pitfalls of Soft Launching

Now moving on to the negative aspects of soft launching, we may observe that it might complicate both social and personal interactions.

1. Miscommunication

The soft launch creates ambiguity, which then further creates miscommunications within a relationship. While one partner might view soft launching as a way of maintaining privacy and still showcasing the relationship, the other one might view it as not being worthy of a hard launch. One might feel undervalued due to this. Here, communication is the key.

Read More: Mastering Effective Communication: Building Trust and Strong Relationships

2. Potential Jealousy

When you put your relationship out in the open, it invites both positive and negative reactions. There might be people on social media who are not your well-wishers and might want to provoke jealousy. Establishing boundaries with your friends and family becomes very important here.

Read More: Decoding Love-Related Confusion: Insecurity and Self-Esteem in Relationships

3. Insecurity

If one partner does not show the relationship openly, the other might doubt their intentions and seriousness. It might be seen as a reluctance to move forward. Both partners must discuss the online presence and the degree of it beforehand so that it does not create any misunderstanding moving forward.

4. Social Pressure

Soft launching, as an undeniable result, might invite many questions like ‘Who is this mystery person?’ or ‘Are you taken?’ which one might not be ready to share yet. This pressure might be unintended but both parties feel pressured to reveal their lives before they are ready to do so.

Read More: How Withholding Affection Can Ruin Your Relationship

5. Social Media Comfort

Not everyone feels comfortable sharing every part of life on social media. While one might believe in a soft launch or even a hard launch, the other might not want to be on social media at all. The partner uncomfortable with social media presence might feel pressured to post subtle hints while the one comfortable with it might feel frustrated due to lack of affirmation.

In conclusion, the soft launch dating trend is a way for couples to drop subtle hints but not reveal the identity of their partner. It is done to maintain privacy, create engagement on social media platforms, avoid going through a public breakup, etc. It also has disadvantages like miscommunication, societal pressure, insecurity, etc.