If You've Online Dated, You've Probably Been Love Bombed

This week's viral story about West Elm Caleb proves that it's all too easy to love bomb over text.

Last fall, Ismo, a 23-year-old from Arizona, jokingly tweeted, “Not sure if this guy [I’m talking to] is just really boring and bad at texting or if I’m just too used to being love bombed by every guy that talks to me.”

Ismo, who asked to use just her first name (as did others interviewed for this story), was joking, but also calling out a hard truth about dating in the app age: Love bombing ― a form of manipulation in which someone showers a new romantic interest with intense displays of affection very early on ― is frustratingly common these days.