low key orbiting

Orbiting behavior that neither party ever explicitly acknowledges — a mutual awareness that someone is watching, staying present, and not letting go, but that exists entirely in the unverified space of digital behavior and plausible deniability. Unspoken orbiting is the most common kind: both the orbiter and the person being orbited know what's happening, but naming it would force a reckoning neither is ready for. It functions as a kind of digital holding pattern, where someone remains technically visible in your life without ever declaring themselves.

A self-audit or reality check to determine whether someone is orbiting you — passively watching your social media without making real contact — or whether you're doing the orbiting. An orbiting check involves scrolling through your story views, noting who always watches but never texts, and reckoning with what that means. It can also be a group activity: a friend asking another 'orbiting check — is he still watching your stories?' in a distinctly investigative, slightly obsessive way. The check frames digital surveillance as a formal diagnostic procedure.

The state of deliberately or unconsciously drifting into orbiting behavior — watching an ex's or crush's social media without making real contact. Orbiting mode is often something people slip into without consciously choosing it: you told yourself you were over it, but here you are, watching every story, liking posts from three weeks ago at 2am. The 'mode' framing acknowledges it as a behavioral state you can enter and theoretically exit, which makes it feel less pathetic and more like a temporary glitch to be debugged.