In the modern dating landscape, romance isn’t just happening face-to-face or on dating apps. It’s also happening on our screens in completely virtual worlds. Developing a strong emotional attachment to a video game character, popularly known as a video game crush, is a massive phenomenon.

We live in a world where society expects to be involved in everything, right down to what a person ate for lunch. But recently, a much more concerning trend has taken over social media: people platforming their raw, painful, and often toxic breakups online. TikTok and Instagram are flooded with videos racking up 12 million views apiece, where creators play real, abusive, or highly reactive voice notes left by their exes.