Featured Image Credit: DMP/Getty Images/Peter Cade/Getty Images
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Dating, Dating trends, Social Media, TikTok
Ella Scott
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Dating, Dating trends, Social Media, TikTok
Unbeknownst to you, you may already be feeling the benefits of ‘pebbling’ in your relationship.
Every day it appears that more negative dating terms are entering our vernacular, including the more recent ‘roaching’ and problematic ‘White Clawing’ trends.
However, pebbling is a rare breath of fresh air - and you may already be doing it without being aware of how it’s strengthening your relationship.
Pebbling is a wholesome dating trend used to describe the act of sending digital offerings such as love notes, relatable TikTok videos and cute GIFs to your significant other.
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According to Parents.com, the term originated after scientists observed Gentoo penguins in Antarctica presenting rocks to each other as a form of courtship.
Naturally, the act of pebbling has grown exponentially over the years and relationship experts are even going as far as to hail it as a sixth ‘love language’.
As pebbling is essentially an umbrella term for sending something to someone, there are so many ways to practice.
You could send your significant other a new song; leave them a handwritten note before you go to work; send a TikTok meme on your lunch break or even text them a breaking news headline about their favourite celebrity.
According to relationship expert Gigi Engle, as per Metro: “You simply see something that reminds you of someone you love, and you send it to them.”
Moreover, psychologist Adam Grant claims that pebbling is never ‘trivial’ because it shows your partner that you’re ‘thinking of them’.
So if you’ve ever messaged someone and said ‘I saw this and thought of you’, then that is pebbling, my friend.
Engle told Metro that the main attribute of pebbling is that it works to strengthen your relationships.
“It’s similar to sending a message saying, ‘I saw this and thought of you’,” she said.
"Pebbling can be a really good way of building banter and a connection with a partner. It doesn’t have to be physical stuff - it’s meme culture.”
Moreover, a 2023 communication study discovered that sending memes to your partner was linked to ‘relational satisfaction’ and that ‘the sharing of memes plays a meaningful role in many close relationships’.
Unfortunately, it’s possible that this healthy dating trend can be taken too far.
“What is deemed sweet and thoughtful for someone, may be irrelevant for someone else,” Drew Wyllie, an expert at Pure dating app, told Metro.
He advises that it’s important to consider what your partner actually appreciates before hitting send on anything an everything.
Moreover, Engle claims the act of constantly sending stuff to your future flame can set an ‘expectation of communication’.
Therefore, if you suddenly stop pebbling with your partner, they could be left wondering what went wrong.