Things ended. You haven't spoken in weeks. Then you notice she's still watching your stories. There in your views. Sometimes a like. She's gone from your texts but she hasn't left your feed.
Unfollowing takes two seconds. So why hasn't she?
Because watching costs nothing and unfollowing costs something.
Her position is easy. Watching gives her information (how you're doing, whether you've moved on, whether the option is still open) without requiring any friction of actual contact. The algorithm surfaces your content and she watches it. She doesn't have to decide anything. She doesn't have to reach out, she doesn't have to close the door. She just stays visible.
Your position is harder because you can see her. Every view registers. A story view removes the possibility she didn't know you posted. She saw it and still didn't say anything. That's different from just not texting back. The ambiguity is specific: you know she's aware of you, you just don't know what that means.
Neither person has to make a decision for this to continue. She doesn't have to decide if she wants to re-engage. You don't have to decide what the watching means. Watching is free, posting is something you were already doing. The situation sustains itself.
Dominated strategies
Posting for her. Once you're aware she's watching, it starts shaping what you put up: things she'd find interesting, things that make you look good, things that signal you're doing fine. Your content has quietly become about the orbit. You're performing for someone who isn't there, which means the orbit is affecting your behavior even though nothing has happened.
Treating her engagement as a signal and acting on it. A like, a view, a story reaction. None of these tell you what she wants. If you reach out based on a story view and you've misread it, the message lands badly. You're playing ambiguous data as if it were a clear signal.
The move that resolves it: remove her access. Block or remove her as a follower. It's the first deliberate act either of you has taken. You're not in the situation anymore.
The other move: reach out directly. It bypasses the ambiguity entirely. You stop trying to read the orbit and just ask. If you're right about what the watching meant, it works. If you're wrong, at least you know.