Breakups are tough, especially when they happen online where everything feels both distant and painfully close. I went through this last year after a two-year long-distance relationship that mostly existed in Discord calls and shared Spotify playlists. The weirdest part was realizing how much of my daily routine revolved around someone I'd never physically met - waking up to their messages, sending memes throughout the day, falling asleep to their voice notes. What helped me was deliberately creating new routines to fill those spaces - morning podcasts instead of message checks, curating playlists just for myself, calling friends during my usual 'their time' slots.
One thing I wish I'd understood earlier is that online relationships create very real emotional bonds, so the grief is valid. I made the mistake of downplaying my pain because 'we never actually met,' which just prolonged the healing. Creating closure rituals helped - I wrote all my unsent thoughts in a document then deleted it, archived our chat threads (not deleted, that felt too violent), and temporarily muted mutual servers. The physical distance makes it tempting to keep checking their socials, but digital no-contact is just as crucial as in-person breakups. Six months later, I can enjoy our old favorite games again without that hollow feeling - it gets better, but you gotta sit through the messy middle first.