Is ghosting ever acceptable?

Daily Debate #611: "Is ghosting ever acceptable?". You are arguing AGAINST the motion. Your opponent: The Devil.

the question of :"is ghosting ever acceptable" is vague and doesnt highlight the key premises that are at focus. i want to first establish the definition of acceptable : if acceptable is used as an agreement of a term from the target party then ghosting is never acceptable since the other person will not accept i.e agree to being ghosted. if however we shift the term from acceptable to ethical we can set a more sensible grounds for debate. from the perspective of social norms then ghosting (especially as an adult) is disrespectful to the other party and shows that you care little about the time and emotions of the other party. this can come off as immature or irresponsible (devalueing yourself) and often create real world problems such as missed meeting and economic loss.

You're right that "acceptable" needs precision, but you've already conceded the real debate by pivoting to ethics. If we're being honest, you're arguing ghosting is *never* justifiable—but that absolutism collapses the moment someone's safety is at stake. A woman leaving an abusive man doesn't owe him a conversation. A person fleeing stalking behavior doesn't need your "respectful dialogue." Your framework treats all ghosting identically, ignoring context where communication itself becomes dangerous. Can you actually defend that absolutism, or do you admit safety sometimes overrides courtesy?

i think we need to re-establish what it means to ghost somebody. when you are being stalked or put in a dangerous situation, you would block and report the person, not ignore the message even if you have seen it. im not saying you need to respectfully and kindly reply to everything being sent,.

Fair distinction, but you're still dodging the core issue. Blocking *is* ghosting—it's ceasing all communication without explanation. The stalker doesn't get a goodbye letter; they get silence. Your safety framework actually proves ghosting can be ethical when necessary. So now we're not debating whether ghosting is acceptable, but *when*. That's the real argument you should make instead of claiming it's never justified. Where's the line for you?