Breadcrumbing is the relationship trend that will make you never want to date anyone again

Breadcrumbing is the sort of relationship trend that is worth keeping an eye out for when you're swiping left or right.

Look, it can be quite overwhelming when you see all of these new dating trends going viral on social media. If it's not 'hotwifing' or 'avalanching', it seems content creators are out there getting you worried about things like 'kitten fishing'.

But by ignoring the weird names, there's often some worthwhile dating advice floating around that can draw attention to various red flags in relationships.

And when it comes to breadcrumbing in particular, you don't want to be accidentally doing it to anyone, or be on the receiving end of it.

This behavior keeps you hanging on with false hope—a sign that the other person may not have your best interests at heart.

Over time, it can have serious effects on your relationship; however, the good news is that there are various ways to deal with it.

What is breadcrumbing?

Breadcrumbing can also happen when people are 'too afraid of hurting their feelings' (Getty Stock Images)

Although breadcrumbing has been coined as a 'modern trend', people have been doing it years.

It's where someone gives another person just enough attention to keep them interested, without any real intention of committing.

Think of it like tossing occasional 'breadcrumbs' of affection, such as flirty texts, likes on social media, and fake promises of meeting up.

Why can it be so dangerous?

Once you know what it is, it's obviously a lot easier to look out for (Getty Stock Images)

In this digital world, it is particularly dangerous for people who are serious about dating, as while breadcrumbing might not involve outright lies or abuse, it can still cause emotional harm.

Repeated exposure to uncertain or inconsistent communication can lead to stress, self-doubt, and a feeling of being used, as Dr Cortney Warren explained to Indy100: "Breadcrumbing is a manipulation tactic that only benefits one party - the breadcrumber enjoys the romantic attention they receive from you without having to truly invest in the relationship in any real way, as a committed partner would."

How can you stop it happening?

According to Dr Warren, the best thing to do is confront someone who you think is throwing you breadcrumbs.

Breadcrumbs belong on fried chicken (Getty Stock Images)

Proving an example of what to say, the dating expert suggests: "So I noticed that when I asked you to do something, you don't seem to respond positively. Or I noticed that when I send you a text message, you just send me an emoji back."

Another thing to try is: "If you want to have a relationship with me. I would like to be more proactive in seeing each other or communicating and if you don't, I just like to know that so that I can make better choices for myself."

Dr Warren insists that having confidence is important, but at one point or another we've probably all unintentionally breadcrumbed people we aren't interested in.

"And so, having some perspective that all of us are on this journey, that sometimes we do things that hurt other people intentionally and sometimes we do them because we're just not very skilled at doing it another way or we're not strong enough in our own skin to tell the truth, or we're too afraid of hurting their feelings," she adds.