Meet soft blocking—the new low-drama breakup trend that Gen Z swears by

It starts with a tiny, confusing notification. You try to check your ex’s profile, and suddenly, you can’t follow them anymore. Your DMs are gone. You re-follow, assuming it’s a glitch—until it happens again. There’s no fight, no message, no explanation. Just a quiet exit from your digital life.

Welcome to the age of soft blocking, where relationships don’t end with words but with just a few clicks. Soft blocking has become the modern version of the breakup talk. It’s the digital equivalent of closing a door halfway, leaving just enough room to pretend it wasn’t intentional.

So what is a soft block? 

Put simply, soft blocking someone means removing them from your followers or blocking and then immediately unblocking them, so they’re no longer following you. The point is not to make a scene but to quietly set a boundary. You can still look up each other’s profiles, but you won’t see their posts on your feed, and they won’t see yours unless they choose to re-follow you.

Now, don't mistake it for ghosting. That usually happens during the relationship or the talking stage. A soft block, on the other hand, is more of a post-breakup clean-up—a low-drama way to say “we’re done” without actually saying it. For many, it’s an act of self-preservation: less confrontation, fewer emotional reminders, and no awkward lingering.

The truth is, social media has made breakups infinitely messier. Even after the relationship ends, your ex’s name still appears in your DMs, shared memories resurface in “On This Day” reminders, and mutual friends tag them in everything. The digital world doesn’t allow you a clean slate—only nostalgia, served in algorithmic doses.

That’s why soft blocking feels like freedom. It’s not petty; it’s about protecting your peace. Instead of endlessly lurking or pretending you’re okay while watching your ex move on in real time, you simply disappear from each other’s feeds. It’s a reset button for your emotional bandwidth.

And unlike a hard block, which screams, “I’m mad at you,” a soft block whispers, “I’m moving on.” It’s subtle, civilised, and fits perfectly into the Gen Z approach to emotional boundaries: quiet, firm, and deeply online.

Why everyone's doing it

For Gen Z, everything from friendships and situationships to full-blown relationships exists partly online. That means digital boundaries are as real as physical ones. When someone soft blocks you, it’s about control rather than revenge. It’s the only way to reclaim space in a world where your ex’s digital presence can feel inescapable.

Soft blocking also feels less cruel. There’s no dramatic unfollow spree, no public shade. It’s more private and doesn’t invite drama. You don’t have to explain yourself to mutual friends or navigate awkward “Why did you block them?” questions. You just quietly remove access—like clearing out your emotional storage.

And that’s the tricky part—soft blocking protects you, but it also erases the possibility of closure. In a world already allergic to emotional confrontation, it can make breakups feel more like disappearing acts than endings.

The digital age has made our relationships more connected than ever, but it has also made separation harder. The soft block is the modern compromise: space without spectacle, distance without drama.

Maybe it’s not the most romantic way to say goodbye, but in a world where love lives online, it’s the one that makes sense. Sometimes the most powerful breakup line isn’t said out loud—it’s hidden behind a ‘Follow’ button that’s suddenly no longer blue.

Lead image: Netflix

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