That’s what it means & how to protect yourself

If you are looking for relationships through online dating, you must also beware of toxic communication. One form of this is breadcrumbing. What exactly is behind it and how you can protect yourself from it, we explain to you in our article.

Anyone looking for dates online – be it for something long-term or just a one-night stand – not only has to choose between numerous dating apps and rummage through even more dating profiles, but should do the same toxic behaviors consciousness. And there are quite a few of them: Ghosting, Love Bombing or else breadcrumbing. But what is behind the (in German) “breadcrumbs”? We want to tell you.

Breadcrumbing: what does it mean?

And now imagine if we didn’t do that. No definition of what it means, just nothing. And that, although we aroused your interest – you literally throwing breadcrumbs have. That’s exactly what breadcrumbing is.

In the dating context, it’s more about the attention, if not the relationship, that you’re waiting for. Breadcrumbers are people who give others a certain amount of interest so that they don’t lose hope, but nothing more (e.g. a relationship) comes about. Rather, the other person is kept warm by giving her or him as little attention as possible, but as much as necessary gives.

In an interview, British psychologist Dr. Gemma Harris that breadcrumbing can come from people with attachment problems or low self-esteem have to contend with, mental illnesses can in turn be the reason for such hurtful behavior (source: Psychcentral). Laying a trail of breadcrumbs in others grants a certain power over them, but can also be used for self-protection.

Again, people who have a high level of empathy or who also struggle with fear of commitment can become victims of breadcrumbers. Just like people who quickly become dependent on romantic relationships – here there is a danger that every breadcrumb will be overly romanticized.

In our video we explain other dating phenomena in addition to breadcrumbing:

How do you recognize breadcrumbing?

Breadcrumbing can be recognized above all by how the other person communicates (Source: Utopia). If she texts and flirts with you a lot, but keeps making excuses for meeting, doesn’t answer such questions or promises to meet, but it never happens, that’s a sign. Likewise, if the communication remains very superficial, the other person wants to know little about you, only physically interested in you or only counters messages with memes or gifs, that’s a sign.

The same applies to social media: If each of your posts is commented on by the possible breadcrumber, but there are no reactions to your comments or messages, this should make you suspicious.

The classic, of course, is when the person not reported for a long period of time and then suddenly you get a message – without any explanation of what was going on. If you then show little interest in the person, it is not uncommon for them to pay more attention to you in order to remain interesting to you.

Your match doesn’t get in touch for a long time and you suddenly get a message? This is called “breadcrumbing”. You are kept warm so as not to lose interest in the breadcrumber (Image source: IMAGO / Addictive Stock).

How to protect yourself from breadcrumbing?

There is no recipe against breadcrumbing. Rather, one can protect oneself against it by becomes aware of his self-worth. make you realize where your limits are, define your red flags. If these are not respected by the other person or you are not receiving the treatment you deserve, stand up for yourself and end contact with the breadcrumber.

It can also help to seek the conversation: Talk to the other person about how you feel that you are not being respected or treated well by them. That not only helps to learn that communicate their own needs and limitations, but you see how the person reacts to it. Make yourself aware of what you are looking for, what is good for you and that you deserve to be treated with respect.

You got a dick pic from someone without asking? Here’s how you can take legal action:

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