'Relaunching': The New Relationship Term For People Getting Back With Their Exes

In this digital age, social media makes it possible to know what everyone is up to, who is dating who, and who has broken up with who. Lately, people have gotten creative with sharing their relationships, and it's much more than just switching your Facebook status to "in a relationship." The concept of "launching" your relationship online has been popular throughout the past couple of years. 

There's the "soft launch," the subtle and mysterious way of showing your followers that there's a special someone in your life without showing their face yet. Then there's the "hard launch," where you're ready to share who your partner is by sharing a photo of you together for everyone to see. But what do you call it when you're getting back with an old fling? There's a third type of launch all about drama, and it's called "relaunching." With a relaunch, you're announcing that you got back together with an ex and putting it out for your friends to see. Risky and bold? Yes. But it's also kind of an iconic move. 

This newer relationship term has circulated online for a while now, but it has become even more popularized following an Instagram post from fitness trainer and Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby. It's a photo of Cody and his ex-boyfriend Andrés Alfaro together in Paris — the city of love, of course. He captioned it, "Hard Relaunch."

It can certainly be a scary thing to make an old relationship public again, but the comment section had Cody's back, with followers saying, "I'm not missing his next class" and "Welcome back to the stage!" One protective fan commented, "If he breaks your heart again he knows he's dead, right??" The post has gotten some buzz on TikTok as well. Content creator Eli Rallo posted a video praising Cody and others who have posted a hard relaunch. "If you have ever done this before, I think that you are amazing," she says.

Some people are taking the relaunch to the next level like one TikTok user named Emma. In her video, she shows how she and her ex-boyfriend, whom she had been broken up with for over two years, hard relaunched paparazzi style. The two of them posted pictures that looked as if they were celebrities being spotted in public together. Go big or go home, right?

This trend begs to ask the age-old question: is it ever a good idea to get back with your ex? It truly depends on your situation. While many are in full support of the concept of a relaunch, not everyone agrees that it's a good thing. People who had toxic partners wouldn't be caught dead being seen with their exes. A TikTok user named Amy weighed in on the trend in her video. "If I relaunched my ex, there would be a riot in front of my house," she joked.

But not all breakups are disastrous, and some couples who grow apart find their way back to each other. It's important to remember why you broke up in the first place, and if it seems like you both can work together to improve behaviors and fix problems, then maybe the relationship can work. You both have to be willing to put in that effort. If neither of you tries to change unhealthy habits and toxic behaviors, then you'll fall into familiar patterns that likely ended the relationship in the first place. Talk to your friends and people outside of the relationship if you're thinking of getting back with and relaunching an ex. They'll tell you what you need to hear.