You’ve been in a relationship for two and a half months. You’re looking through photos from a walk you took with your partner. You pause to admire one of the photos you took of them: a shadowy side profile, their face obscured, silhouetted against the setting sun. You post it to your Instagram story, tagging the location but not their handle. This is the first time you’ve even hinted on social media about the presence of a significant other in your life.
A soft launch is when you post a low-key photo for your partner’s Instagram debut. A soft launch can take many different forms, such as their elbow resting on a table or their shoes being just in frame. It could be shared on Instagram’s story or, for a ‘harder’ soft launch, on your grid. In each case, however, it will be a very subtle shot that leaves your relationship status ambiguous.
They’re a subtle way to show the world that you are no longer single or that you’re currently immersed in the dating process with someone.
Soft-launching reflects the excitement of the early stages of a relationship because, while they appear unassuming, they have an air of mystery about them that makes them exhilarating. The inevitable flood of DMs asking “Who is that?” is part of the fun of a soft launch.
A couple of local celebrities have soft launched the relations on Instagram, recently Nhlanhla Mafu shared a Christmas picture including her new partner and his kids but strategically hid his face and those of the kids. Melanie Bala soft launched her partner as well and called it ‘beta testing in her caption.
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Also see: Nhlanhla Mafu shows off mystery bae
