Is this love bombing?

An 18-year-old woman started talking to a man her age on a dating app about a week and a half ago. While their initial chemistry seemed great, his actions—buying several gifts, making her his homescreen, and posting about her on social media—feel overwhelming.

Despite asking to slow things down, his behavior hasn’t changed. Her friends are worried that this might be love bombing, and she’s unsure whether to continue the relationship. read the original story below…

‘ Is this love bombing ?’

I 18 F, recently started talking to a 18 M. We met about a week and a half ago on a dating app, and I initially thought things were going smoothly. I liked him, he liked me, we had good chemistry, considering my other matches had been awful.

However, since then, he has bought me several gifts and I mean several, has made me his homescreen, and posted about me on various social media’s. I was initially feeling like things were moving quite fast so I told him that I wanted to go a bit slower as I was scared of getting into a relationship too quickly,

but since not much has changed. My friends are concerned that it’s too much too fast, and I’m not sure what to do about it. Should I end things with him?
TLDR: I’m concerned someone I recently started talking to is love bombing me. He is moving way faster than me and I’m not sure if i’m comfortable with it, or what to do about it.

Check out how the community responded:

yourmumdoesmydad −  yes this is love bombing. a week is an incredibly short time to be doing all this. he’s likely gonna start expecting things from you so run while you can. imo, there’s loads of weirdos like this on dating apps, try and meet someone in person! best of luck

IAmJonStewart −  Yeah that’s way way too much for a week and a half in. If you stay with this person you’re gonna be exhausted

sheerspace −  Given your ages, is this his first (or one of his first) relationships? It could be unintentional over eagerness/excitement. I draw the distinction because love bombing is a form of intentional manipulation/control that is often accompanied by an attempt to have some form of control over you / your life.

It reads to me as possibly youthful over enthusiasm. I can relate to similar moments in my youth when I came on too strong because I was so excited to be experiencing a relationship for the first few times after its importance was so built up in media and watching my peers experience things I hadn’t yet.

Now in my late 30s, even if I feel very strong feelings initially, I do my best to keep myself from expressing them in an overbearing way and allow myself the time to differentiate what is temporary infatuation and what is deep compatibility and connection.

But that is something that took a lot of time to figure out, and is something that we’re always continuing to navigate with each new connection. Either way it is something that would raise warning flags for me too, but I wouldn’t necessarily jump to it being intentionally malicious. Definitely something I would talk to them about, and try to understand their intentions behind their actions.

It’s wise to trust your instincts and consider setting clear boundaries if his actions make you uncomfortable. Moving at a pace that feels right for you is essential in any relationship. What advice would you offer her? Share your thoughts below!