Textationship
- “we text constantly but never actually meet”
- “a relationship that only exists over text”
- “the word for dating someone through your phone”
- “why does it feel real if we've never met up”
01 · Side by side
Side by side
Comparison sheet
| Aspect | Textationship | Situationship |
|---|---|---|
| What's missing | Physical presence | A definition |
| Clarity | Can be clear | Deliberately unclear |
| Lives in | The message thread | The undefined middle |
| The question | When do we meet? | What are we? |
02 · Which one you meant
Which one did you mean?
In shortReaders who land here meaning Textationship rather than Situationship are usually searching for phrases like “we text constantly but never actually meet”, “a relationship that only exists over text”, “the word for dating someone through your phone”.
Situationship
- “more than friends but not officially together”
- “we act like a couple but never talked about what we are”
- “the word for a relationship with no label”
- “what do you call dating someone without commitment”
03 · Which came first
Which came first
In shortTextationship. 2007 — Appears in slang dictionaries as a connection 'based solely on texting' — well before smartphones were universal.
- 2007
Textationship. Appears in slang dictionaries as a connection 'based solely on texting' — well before smartphones were universal.
- 2008
Situationship. Merriam-Webster's first known use of the word, some years before it spread.
04 · Read either one