How long is too long to wait before saying, “I love you”? For some folks, it seems the first date is long enough.
One woman actively swimming through the dating pool had those three little words said to her after meeting her date in person for the first time, and what she had to say about it has sparked a huge debate about love and affection across the internet.
“I went on a first date with a dude a few days ago,” wrote X user @yumyumeg) in a post from Jan 11., 2025. “It was such a good date just for me to get home and he called me and said he thinks he loves me. Legit hung up mid convo and blocked him.”
The short post about her experience has racked up 21M views, 8.2K reposts, and 133K likes in 3 days. But it’s within the 2.4K comments that has the internet divided on what transpired.
Many people sided with @yumyumeg and approved of her actions.
“I need to reach this level,” wrote X user @tonichauntel.
“He tryna love bomb you,” replied X user @okaydeni, which got 15K likes.
However, many thought @yumyumeg was too harsh in her decision to block. “These will be the women that will end up alone,” replied X user @hoodoonurse, a response that received 12K likes.
“Men know when they love a woman very quickly,” said X user @spicyliltoaster. “ Women are a huge reason why men don’t show their emotions and carry deep burdens to their graves.”
Why saying ‘I love you’ on a first date is a turnoff
As @yumyumeg notes, the date wasn’t a total bust. Daily Dot reached out to the viral poster and learned that her date took her to a nice Italian restaurant.
“He greeted me with roses,” she explains via Instagram DM. “He was charming, the conversation flowed easily, not to mention he made me laugh. Everything seemed natural.”
However, the conversation she had after the night ended didn’t sit well. “I’ve actually been love bombed before with someone who told me he loved me after the first week and consistently bought gifts the first month,” she added.
“I was able to identify immediately that this isn’t normal. There’s no reason for someone to be telling me they love me after 2 hours of conversation.”
What is love bombing?
According to Psychology Today, “love bombing” refers to “a pattern of overly affectionate behavior that typically occurs at the beginning of a relationship, often a romantic one, in which one party ‘bombs’ the other with over-the-top displays of adoration and attention.”
Typically those being love-bombed are showered with gifts and/or compliments, and “declaring love early on” is not unheard of, according to the article.
A representative sample survey conducted by Shane&Co. found that 70% of Americans have been love bombed, and that women tend to fall victim to love bombing more than men.
70% of those surveyed had also heard the words “I love you” spoken in less than a month of their new relationship.
It’s behavior @yumyumeg has experienced before, and one that is even considered to be a form of emotional abuse, according to the National Domestic Violence hotline.
“He became extremely controlling and possessive,” she told the Daily Dot. I eventually ended things which resulted in being harassed via social media, emails, and things sent to my house.”
‘I’m honestly shocked how many people attacked me for having a boundary to protect myself‘
Thoughts about love bombing are common elsewhere across social media, with some who feel the sentiment is overblown by younger, more sensitive generations.
“‘If someone tells you they love you after a couple dates they’re using abusive lovebombing tactics you to manipulate you’ probably not, tbh,” posted @lllliatttt on X on Jan. 13, 2025, raking in 4.4M views and over 3.6K comments debating the statement.
X user @ichthys30 seems to agree that love bombing isn’t as bad as some make it out to be. “Absolutely insane that Zoomers rebranded love at first sight as ‘love-bombing’,” the explained. “Clearly the most anxious, uptight, immature, pathologizing, risk-adverse generation ever born.”
“I’m honestly shocked how many people attacked me for having a boundary to protect myself,” @yumyumeg tells the Daily Dot. “I think it’s extremely sad how angry men are online with all the hate comments I have received. My perception is the same.”
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
