There’s no doubt the social media age and digital realm has meant the concept of virtual stalking could almost be considered mainstream.
But one concerned Reddit user is wondering if his current girlfriend has taken her propensity to social media stalk just a little too far, writing on the platform that he found her “fake” Instagram account where she follows all his “exes, past flings and hookups”.
“The Instagram contains several photos of someone I’ve never seen before, and has been around since May 2016,” he wrote on his post.
The user, wtfinstagram, went on to write that the whole scenario was a little stranger because she has never had much to do with his exes and they don’t even live close to where he grew up.
“For context, we’ve been together 2.5 years, living together for one. We live closer to her hometown (with mine approximately six hours away) so she hasn’t really gotten the chance to know many people from where I’m from except my family and closest friends.”
He added that the findings have caught him off-guard because he is usually the jealous one in the relationship.
"I guess I'm just a little weirded out and I'm not sure if I should bring it up. Honestly, I'm generally the jealous one in the relationship and we've had to have many talks about my not focusing on her exes or getting too mad if someone hits on her.
"Should I say anything? Should I be weirded out?"
In their replies, users were totally divided in whether this behaviour was both normal and acceptable or the marker of a crazy girlfriend.
"Not going to lie, I've considered doing this before," one user admitted.
"The only reason I haven't is because it would be awkward if I got caught. I'm not a crazy girlfriend though, if that I don't care if he talks to other women, don't care he has female friends he hangs out with alone and can't imagine him ever cheating.
"Buuuut I'm crazy nosy and at least one of his exes is batsh*t. So it may be less she's psycho and more just likes to see what they're up to."
Would you use this kid tracking app to stalk your boyfriend? Jo Abi and the This Glorious Mess team discuss. Post continues after audio.
Another agreed it was much more about curiosity than jealousy.
"I'm totally with you. I love stalking exes and my husband's exes. I'm not a jealous person at all. It's a weird form of entertainment for me."
One user said they believed that if it was really an issue, the exes wouldn't let a stranger follow them and be up to date and their day-to-day activity.
"I wouldn't consider it stalking. That's a bit far.
"It is a social media account which they allowed a stranger to follow. Even if his girlfriend isn't being upfront about who she is, the other person is allowing strangers access to that information so it doesn't sound like they're too bothered by strangers seeing their information."
However, another user admitted the entire debacle was totally "crazy".
"Checking out an exes profile is one thing. Creating a fake account to snoop is a bit crazy in my opinion. I'm surprised so many people call this normal," they wrote.
Top Comments
First off, you have been with this lady for quite a while for her to still be obsessing over her exes. Creating a different account just for that purpose seems fishy to me. I smell Infidelity . I think you should really look into it more before you confront her.
my bf thinks im weird for looking at peoples photos on facebook. he says unless they pop up in the feed, actually clicking on someones profile and looking at their photos is weird.
i get what she is doing but she is being a little too organised about it. red flag.