The constant monitoring and obsessive desire to know information about an ex-lover is a very real phenomenon that has been discussed at length in media outlets such as: psychology todayand science directthey both label these toxic attachments as “obsessive love.”
However, some might argue that it is difficult to classify obsessives as “love”, especially when so many posts are posted. Characteristics of separation It seems either depressing, obligatory, or downright scary. And when dealing with a breakup, there’s a question people often have about their ex: Have they moved on? Are they seeing someone else? Were they talking to them while we were still together?
Questions like the ones mentioned above can easily put someone in a situation. proverbial spiralAnd while forcing yourself to understand these behaviors and not indulge in them, redirect the obsession While pursuing other, more creative paths seems like a much healthier option than crawling into a cave of misery and thinking about past relationships, ignore these coping mechanisms and instead use these mental There are people who choose to fall prey to the devil.
Like what TikToker Laura Picadillo does (@laurapicadillo) The original was exhibited after the dissolution. In fact, this is one of his recurring actions that he does every month. For the past five and a half years and will continue to do so.
In a viral TikTok that garnered more than 1.9 million views before being deleted, Picadillo revealed that her ex-boyfriend tries to access all of her social media accounts every month. She also stated that he worked in cybersecurity for the Department of Defense, leading her to suspect that he was using some special type of software to gain access to her account. became.
She begins the video with her hand on her chest. She looks seriously into the camera and says: When she was out with her friends, her cell phone started ringing strangely. And I asked her to pick it up and see what was going on. And she was like, she was getting a lot of emails and text messages from all of her social media saying they were trying to reset their passwords or confirming password resets, so I said, ‘Monthly check-in. ‘Yes,’ he said. ”
Naturally, Picadillo’s friend was curious about what she meant by that statement, and the TikToker told her friend what she meant. “She forgot that she hadn’t yet unraveled all my lore,” she says. “So, I explained that my ex-lover tries to hack all my social media accounts every month. And of course my friends are very worried, but I change my passwords every two weeks.” He reassures her that he likes to. The password is just slamming his arm on the keyboard. He hasn’t been able to hack it in years. And she says, “Years?!” “Yeah, this has been happening once a month since April 2018. So she said wait, and you said he hacked it. So he has hacked you before. Have you ever hacked?”
The TikToker said there was only one instance in which an ex-lover was able to access her social media accounts. This says a lot about the security protocols of many of these social media accounts, or the lack of technical acumen that Department of Defense cybersecurity personnel have.
“One time, when he managed to hack my LinkedIn, I thought so. But all he did was unblock me and write me an essay about missing me. All he did was send it to me and then call me a fat, ugly piece of shit,” she says. “And she said, ‘He didn’t do that, didn’t he do anything else?’ And as far as I know, he unblocked himself and I I thought she just wanted to challenge me to a personal conundrum: Do I hate Laura or do I want to meet Laura? And she said, “That’s awful, but all the social media… It’s also kind of crazy to have 150 simultaneous requests coming from your account.”
Picadillo went on to say that she’s become so used to this “monthly check-in” that the frequent blaring sounds, which signal her ex’s persistent attempts to communicate with her for years, aren’t actually that upsetting. I explained to my friend that I wouldn’t. day to day. “And I think, you know, I’ve always wondered if he works for the Department of Defense, just like in the cybersecurity department. So I think that’s something that all governments So I always wondered if he was using government technology to do that.” Or is it a coding issue? Is it a coding thing? ”
The TikToker went on to say that he “found out” that his ex-girlfriend wasn’t using any special software or secret algorithms. “This wasn’t a coding issue, it wasn’t something I discovered. My friend was also very concerned, but I’ve been dealing with this problem once a month for a really long time, so I’m not sure if my period at this point I think the same way.”
She ended the video with a final warning message/romantic advice for viewers. “Just don’t date someone who’s good with computers.”
Picadillo posted several video responses asking other users on the platform a number of questions about the situation. A frequently repeated question throughout the comments was an exhortation from other TikTokers who wanted to know why she didn’t try to get him fired from his job.
In one video, she said she had in fact contacted his workplace, the police, and his lawyer about the situation, but the cacophony of login attempts that rang out from her phone every 30 days still wouldn’t stop. device.
However, there were also comments on the app from several users who appeared to be genuinely concerned and concerned for her safety. One user wrote: “This…is like a restraining order.”
Others echoed Picadillo’s opinion about dating nerds. “‘Dating geek,’ they said. ‘It’ll be fun,’ they said,” the user wrote.
One TikToker wondered why her ex-lover didn’t use the time he spent trying to hack her social media accounts to explore some of the issues with her obsession with therapy. Ta. “Why does he spend all his time on this instead of just going to therapy?” they wrote.
Picadillo seems pretty okay with the fact that his ex-girlfriend has been harassing him online for about 67 months straight, and has continued to do so since then, but one commenter said that even though it’s probably the most She said simply ignoring the alarming behavior is something many people would do, even though it might not be the wisest thing to do. About things: “We’ve become desensitized to threats. It’s so common that people find it difficult to judge how big the problem is.”
The Daily Dot reached out to the Pentagon via email and Picadillo asked for more information in a comment on TikTok.
*First published: December 3, 2023 at 10:30pm CST
jack alban
Jack Alban is a freelance journalist for the Daily Dot, covering relationship trends and social media topics and how real people are reacting to them. He strives to create not-so-average viral posts by always incorporating evidence-based research, current events, and facts relevant to these stories.
