Even celebrities are attempting the ‘relationship mid-launch’. Most people fail.

After months of speculation, Sophie Turner confirmed her relationship with Peregrine “Perry” Pearson... Or has she? 

They were spotted kissing a few times last year which initially sparked rumours that Turner and Pearson were dating. 

Watch: Horoscopes & Dating. Post continues below. 

It was only when Turner posted an image to her Instagram featuring Pearson that people took it as a confirmation that they were in a relationship. 

But if you look closely at her post, she didn’t actually confirm anything. 

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A post shared by S O P H I E T U R N E R (@sophiet)

The post is a carousel consisting of six images of what looks like a ski trip with the caption “Jägerbomb anyone?”

In two out of the six images, Pearson is seen amongst some other people. That’s it. There’s no mention of them being in a relationship, they're not showing any form of intimacy towards each other and there’s no photo of just the two of them together. 

What Sophie has attempted to do is a mid-launch. 

What is a mid-launch?

A mid-launch is the new strategy people are using to confirm their relationship without actually saying “I am in a relationship with this person sitting next to me”. 

It’s the middle ground of the commonly seen soft and hard launches and it’s very difficult to execute (not even Turner has successfully pulled it off). 

So, how is a mid-launch different from a soft-launch and a hard-launch?

A soft launch is when someone on social media alludes to the fact that they’re in a relationship but doesn’t confirm it. They might post a picture of themselves which seems innocent enough, but if you look closer you notice that there's another person's shoulder or hand cutting into the frame… Who are they and what do they want? 

A big culprit of the soft launch is posting a picture of a bouquet of flowers with heart emojis as the caption. The soft-launcher’s aim is to drive their audience down an investigative rabbit hole to find out who their new partner is. Some people love doing this as a hobby but most account followers don’t really care. They will just wait for the inevitable hard launch photo. 

The hard launch post is simply the opposite. Basically, you just post a photo with your partner and let people know in the caption that you’re in a relationship. Some examples include “Just friends 😂” or “thought we’d cement it on the grid lol” or (the absolute worst) “Hard launch! 😍🚀”.

 *Shudders*. 

The mid-launch is that sweet spot in between. The person can confirm their relationship without confirming anything at all.

Listen to The Spill explain why Sophie Turner's relationship launch was no accident. 

What are the steps to achieve a mid-launch?  

Few have tried, and many have failed. As difficult as it is to successfully carry out a mid-launch I’m here to take your hand and tell you- Yes, it can be done. 

Here are the steps you need to take to post a mid-launch. 

The Post

The post itself has to be a carousel. Carousels are cool and casual and no big deal. The photo of your partner has to appear on the third or fourth slide. Meaning your partner is there, but they’re irrelevant. 

Using the first and last slides leans into hard launch territory as that is the first and last thing your audience will see, so they will think you care more than you do. You also can’t tag your partner in the image they appear in. 

To put it simply, you’re too busy to play childish tagging games. 

The Caption

The caption can’t acknowledge your partner or describe your feelings towards your partner. I’ve seen way too many “things that made me smile this week” captions. 

Mid-launching is not a smiling matter. 

Sophie Turner provided a great example with “Jägerbomb anyone?”. Cool, casual, and unbothered.  

The Comments 

This is where it gets tricky. We all love attention. If you’ve made it this far, hold on because we’re about to hit G-force. Your comments will probably be flooded with one thing- Your partner. That will be the only thing people will care about. Even if there's a beautiful image of your loving grandparents in the carousel- no one will care. 

You must not like, comment or reply to anyone in the comment section who is asking or talking about your partner. If you want to take it a step further, you can like and reply to the comments that don’t mention your partner. This will drive everyone crazy and cement your chill personality. 

The Promo

If you’re not happy with the number of comments on your post, you can share your carousel to your Instagram stories. Unfortunately, there are rules to this as well. Make sure that the image chosen from the carousel isn’t the image with your partner in it. 

You can tag your partner on the Instagram story but you have to make their @ really small so it’s un-clickable and difficult to read. 

Why Would I Post A Mid-Launch?

The best thing about mid-launches is that if, and I repeat IF, you and your partner break-up there’s little to no evidence of the relationship on your Instagram feed. You can delete their picture from the carousel without removing the entire post, Instagram stories only last 24 hours and there’s no mention of their name in captions or comments by you. 

It’s all speculation- it’s like they were never there.  

Examples of Mid-Launches

As mentioned above, it’s very difficult to achieve. There have been many celebrities who have tried to mid-launch. 

Sophie Turner and Selena Gomez are examples of hard to mid-launches. Sophie’s post has her partner on the first slide of the carousel and she tagged him, which is hard-launch territory. Selena posted her partner on the last slide and she talked about him in the comments- also hard launch territory. 

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A post shared by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez)

Emma Chamberlain is an example of a soft to mid-launch. In her carousel, you can see the shoulder of another person. Where she fails here is that her partner at the time had some identifying tattoo, so it was easy to find out who he was. 

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A post shared by emma chamberlain (@emmachamberlain)

One of the most successful mid-launches I have seen was courtesy of local celebrities Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler. 

Both of them posted carousels with an image of each other on the fourth slide of their carousel. The caption and their activity in the comments have no mention of the other person. If they broke up, we probably would never know. 

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A post shared by Maz (@maryfowlerrr)

Once you’ve successfully followed these steps, congratulations- You’ve accomplished a mid-launch. I wish you and your partner a lifetime of chill and casual vibes like the cool cats you both are. 

If you want more pop culture opinions by Emily Vernem, you can listen to her on The Spill podcast or follow her on Instagram @emilyvernem. 

Feature image: Instagram/@selenagomez & @sophiet