Who Says Money Can't Buy Friends?

Courtney5000 writes "It looks like some users of popular networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook have stooped so low as to actually pay real money for friends. These friends aren't even real believe it or not. You can apparently choose from a selection of 'models' to leave you customized comments to look like you have friends and are popular online. This is unbelievable!"

Comments

And how many here use myspace?

[qwertyman66]

This is one reason why many people don't use Myspace. Many of the people on it are pathetic and superficial.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[Salvance]

/. represents a relatively small, select group of people ... not at all indicative of the masses. MySpace and Facebook are hugely popular with the general population, and in particular with high schoolers and college kids. Most adults would consider this large segment of the population "superficial", so it stands to reason that a good social networking site would mirror its userbase's traits.

But what social networks do folks here use? Is there a good one that offers the benefits of a Facebook or Myspace, while being less superficial and spammy?

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[Xyrus]

"This is one reason why many people don't use Myspace. Many of the people on it are pathetic and superficial.

And I will give you may absolute full and undying support....for $19.95.

~X~

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[lpcustom]

This is our social network. Most of us, I would say, also use this old technology called IRC. To tell the truth. I'd rather talk to an eggdrop bot with a megahal script on IRC than to most of the real people on myspace.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[daranz]

Benefits of Myspace without being superficial and spammy? You mean about:blank?

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod parent up. Only $5.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[hnile_jablko]

I dont know of any good social network site technically. A lot of /.ers like to criticise the status quo as much as possible so myspace is a frequent target. Now it is true, that myspace technically blows goats. And it is also true there are parasites of all sorts out there looking to make money or probe other people on myspace (this is true of the real world as well). But there is also security to keep these people away from you.Basically I use it because all my non-geek/non-nerd friends can use the site relatively easy.
I use the site because I move from country to country a lot. It is the best way for me to remain in a social group (albeit virtually) with my friends from home and the friends I have made elsewhere. All my friends have their pages setup to not accept messages unless the person can enter my friend's real name or email address when prompted. So it its what you are willing to allow people and be a particpant on myspace which reveals a lot about you on the site... and people understand that others are lonely and desperately want to be popular. Its an unfortunate fact which never changes regardless how old we get. Some of us mature out of this and some do not. I would like to think I am one of those who have matured(until I see Natalie Portman has a new film released when i become a stupid stalker man again.... : )) Just my 2p.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[Anonymous Coward]

/. represents a relatively small, select group of peopleTell that to all who have ever been slashdotted.. ;P

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[lav-chan]

But what social networks do folks here use? Is there a good one that offers the benefits of a Facebook or Myspace, while being less superficial and spammy?

Yeah: Facebook or Myspace.

Translation: DON'T ASSOCIATE WITH SUPERFICIAL PEOPLE AND YOUR MYSPACE EXPERIENCE WILL REFLECT THAT

I don't know why this is such a difficult concept for people on Slashdot to grasp. It is barely any different from real life. Every day, at the grocery store, at your job, at school, at church, there are people all around you who are superficial or otherwise undesirable to you. The entire world we live in is like that. The trick is that you don't fucking hang out with people like that. Problem solved.

If you don't like 'emo' kids, don't add any to your friends list. If you don't like 'whores', don't add any to your friends list. If you don't like teen-agers in general, don't add any to your friends list. Your experience on MySpace will be interesting and constructive if you surround yourself with interesting and constructive people.

In the end you may have some other reason for disliking MySpace, of course, but the Slashdot line that MySpace is populated solely by angst-ridden uneducated children is bull shit. You would have the same impression of Earth if you were looking at it from the outside. But if you actually use the superior intelligence that you imply you possess, you will discover that there are many people on MySpace who do not fit your caricature.

Or, you know, you could just use it to communicate with people from real life, the way i and everybody else i know do, and not even worry about how the rest of the world behaves on MySpace.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[Lumpy]

If you are over thirty and have a My Space account you are probably a pedophile.
Yeah right! After looking with my daughter on MySpace, you are telling me that Tony Hawk is a pedophile, Wierd Al Yankovic is a Pedophile and Michael Jackson is a .... Oh wait....

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[shawb]

I guess some people see having a lot of friends on Myspace as a measurement of their worth or something.

In a way, yes. But it's not about vanity. This service isn't for the regular users of myspace... this service is for fake user pages which are basically an ad for a porn site. People are more likely to visit the site advertised if there are a number of friends. In the eyes of the person building the myspace profile, this creates a bootstrap problem of getting enough people to fall for the page to add it to their friends list that enough people will think it is a genuine profile and add it to their friends list. At first it wasn't that hard as there are enough guys out there that will do anything if they see a picture of a girl in a bikini (probably stolen off a modeling agencies website,) however, even these guys are getting wise to the fact that they're just getting used and won't ever get anything out of befriending an advertisement for a website, especially if that ad doesn't already have any friends. So, the bootstrap problem can now be fixed for $0.99 a month.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[Damastus the WizLiz]

Next up. Slashdot sells Mod points.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[Space_Balls]

In the spirit of the story, how much does ./ charge for a front page post these days?

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[An ominous Cow art]

Seems to me there's a business model in there somewhere. All you need is a Step 2).

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[shaneh0]

"No. Popular with angsty kids who still consider their favorite band-of-the-week as a defining characteristic of their very existence."

You can choose to believe that or not. The choice is largely one of ignorance or not.

There are a huge number of people on MySpace, and pigeonholing them in the way you have is akin to a MySpacer saying "Slashdot? That's popular with pale-skinned computer geeks that have no friends, no life, and no social skills. They live in their moms basement at age 35 and consider their computer operating system a defining characteristic of their very existence"

The point I'm trying to make is that if you think that MySpace is full of superficial, ignorant people who accept stereotypes at face value, then you, sir, based on your comments, would fit right in.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[Clete2]

Sadly, I agree. And I'm not kidding.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[ultranova]

No. Popular with angsty kids who still consider their favorite band-of-the-week as a defining characteristic of their very existence.
Most of us grow out of that.

And graduate into complaining about the shallowness of said kids here on Slashdot instead. Much more mature.

Oh well. A few more years and you, too, will be amongst us truly mature people, complaining about people who complain about angsty kids who consider their favorite band-of-the-week as a defining charasteristic of their very existence :).

I wonder if it's possible to become mature enough that I could just deal with people as they are, without worrying about maturity or immaturity, or the appearance of them ?

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[DesertWolf0132]

I'm with you. Most of my non-geek friends are on MySpace so I created an account to keep up with them. My 10 year reunion was organized through MySpace. But every time I pull up a profile my inner web designer dies a little. I use Flashblock to prevent the music from assaulting the ears but these fonts set to 50% opacity over a background of similar color make me want to stab out my own eyes. I have to select the text just to read it and that makes me hurt on so many levels. Why, ye internet Gods, why? Next they will be setting their font to 3px, opacity to 25, with color at #010101 using a background color of #000000. That is when I start hunting Tom with an elephant gun for allowing this.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[SeaFox]

But what social networks do folks here use?

What is this "social network" you speak of?
Do I have to own a Zune to use it?

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[lpcustom]

I'm not sure you are correct when you say /.ers like to criticise the status quo, especially as it relates to social network sites like myspace. It's not like we are sitting around waiting on something to become popular so we can talk shit about it. For me personally, I just don't get myspace. I don't understand it's popularity at all. The only thing it proves to me is that a large majority of people are stupid. I mean, if it's about having a personal web page, what ever happened to angelfire and geocities. If it's about communication, what about IRC, IM, and forums. Most of the myspace profile pages I've seen look like someone tried to teach a retarded blind monkey how to write html. There's no telling how many seisures myspace has caused and they should have warnings about it. In fact, before you are allowed to view the page you should have to click some kind of agreement that states you understand you could go into a seisure just by viewing the page. I wish I was exaggerating.

I'll compare this to when I was a kid. When I was growing up in the 80's, fashion was rediculously silly. My parent's generation looked at us like we were a bunch of nuts, and we were. Now I'm part of the generation that's looking at myspace and thinking what are these kids thinking. Do they realize how stupid these pages look. Also back when I was a kid there were adults that tried to fit in with the kids when it came to fashion. They were nuts. Looking back now, they'd be like "what was I thinking". The same thing goes for the older people on myspace. They just want to pretend they are kids again. History repeats itself. This is evident in the comments on a lot of myspace pages. That's the same language people were using in the early 90's on AOL. Bring on the new AOL and embrace it's popularity.

Slashdot doesn't criticize the status quo....we criticize the stupid status quo.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[goofyspouse]

I can't speak for the GP, but I am fine with people being free to set up their page however they like. What better "bozo filter" could there possibly be than the aforementioned webcrimes? If someone wants to put white text on a yellow background in 4pt type while attempting to blast some shitty MIDI file at me, I don't need to ever see or hear anything from that person again. If I met that person face to face, it would probably take much longer to determine that they are a complete dumbass.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[fbartho]

you might benefit from using greasemonkey on firefox with this script:

http://lifehacker.com/software/myspace/myspace-cus tom-style-remover-greasemonkey-script-201920.php

It removes custom css, making all myspace tags initially cleaned up of the eye gouging colors, leaving you only with the brain melting text.

I don't need friends...

[Rastignac]

...But I really need good slashdot karma ;)

Re:I don't need friends...

[Grr]

Finally a chance to turn my mod points into cold hard cash, how much are you offering? ;)

Re:I don't need friends...

[TubeSteak]

YOU could have excellent Karma Today!

Mail me your Username & Password & for only one fee of $10, I'll post under your name until you have better karma.

Just send an e-mail to Slashdot_Karma@SpamBob.net or we can discuss payment in your journal once you've e-mailed your username:password.

TubeSteak is like V1AGR@ for your Karma

How is this different

[El Lobo]

How is it different from the "real life"? You are what you dress. You are what you consume. You are what you friends are. Unfortunatly in these days for many people you exist only in the eyes of the others. When other people stop looking and "admiring" you, you don't exist anymore.
So you are buying a new car today yop say? Do you **really** need it?

Re:How is this different

[hclyff]

Surely you are not saying that you can *pay* someone to be your friend (and still call it a friendship). If your friends judge you by car you drive, you might want to reconsider a few things in your life.

Re:How is this different

[4solarisinfo]

"You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world."

Join Project Mayhem today!

Re:How is this different

[Fred_A]

I'd hang out with anyone called "Donald".

Or "Pluto".

It could be from Japan and not unbelievable

[slaida1]

All kinds of fake friend services are common. Nothing special there.

Re:It could be from Japan and not unbelievable

[FlopEJoe]

Ya... it's like this escort service I use where they... err... nevermind.

Re:It could be from Japan and not unbelievable

[Morphine007]

It's actually kinda funny; I've heard stories from a couple of people I work with who all know this one guy, let's call him Bob. Bob is military, and, like most military guys who love their job, doesn't have much time for women. So Bob hires a hooker once a week... it's the same hooker each time, she comes over after work and leaves in the morning. Bob pays her a bit extra to bring beer and pizza with her. The guy apparently always has a smile on his face and claims that it's cheaper than being married to a non-working housewife.... especially when you factor in that most people who know Bob personally are also military and have at least one divorce each under their belts. So paying for "friendship" isn't always as stupid as it sounds... some people just don't have time to forge the bonds that make the rest of us human... that doesn't mean they shouldn't have access to them.

Based upon the header

[Capt James McCarthy]

I though it was another article on the MS/Novell 'agreement.'

Shhhh!

[tttonyyy]

You can apparently choose from a selection of 'models' to leave you customized comments to look like you have friends and are popular online.

One day the slashdot editors will figure out that we're all bots too, and the game will be over.

Re:Shhhh!

[jellomizer]

Shhh! this is from the Bots Detection Bot. We don't want you to spread the word that all these posts are from bot. except for one poor sap who is actually reading this.
I shouldn't have said that. But I wasn't programmed with a backspace option.

For just 5 dollars...

[serialdogma]

For the low price of just 5 USD, you can chose from our selection of highly praised slashdot users (some with only 3-digit UIDs) to friend you, please send payments to Ihavenofriends@slashdot.org

Re:For just 5 dollars...

[grimJester]

Just to prove you aren't scamming, could you have them mod this post +5 funny? No offense meant, I just want to make sure.

Re:A treatment for depression?

[Bob54321]

You really think that someone who is suicidal will have their mood bettered when they realize someone had to pay for them to have friends?

Isn't this done already?

[boatofcar]

...America's fraternities and sororities were unavailable for comment.

Re:Isn't this done already?

[timtwobuck]

As a disclaimer, the parent was most likely a joke, but I feel the need to interject because comments like this really piss me off...

As someone that pledged & joined a fraternity during my undergrad I take offense to your comments. I met many life long friends, and solidified many other relationships inside this organization. It taught leadership & management skills that certainly will become precursors to strong professional lives.

It is the habit of many people to comment on things they know nothing about; the popular saying is that people in fraternities and sororities really do pay for their friends. In reality, dues are paid to ensure that the organization can continue to function and remain an avenue for people to experience & meet new people, whom they traditionally would not have met.

Re:Isn't this done already?

[Dunbal]

an avenue for people to experience & meet new people, whom they traditionally would not have met.

      (Emphasis mine)

      Why, are members of a frat/sorority prohibited from making friends with non members?

Re:Isn't this done already?

[timtwobuck]

You're interpreting what I said incorrectly. Just by saying they traditionally would not have met doesn't mean they are forbidden. Without my fraternity, there are many people I would never have met because we were not involved in the same activies or the same circle of friends. Hence, my chances of meeting them and becoming friends was drastically lowered.

Re:Isn't this done already?

[foobsr]

It taught leadership & management skills that certainly will become precursors to strong professional lives.

Not to forget business ethics </cynical>

CC.

Re:Isn't this done already?

[19thNervousBreakdown]

Lesson: Don't admit you were in a frat unless you're around a bunch of other people that were in frats. These days most people, although they are too polite to say anything about it, look down on frats/sororities.

Know the social group you're in. Middle/upper management is probably a good place to advertise that. Slashdot is about the worst place. Look at us, half of us probably beat off to Revenge of the Nerds. Now get outta here before someone starts taunting you with Monty Python quotes.

Re:Isn't this done already?

[timholman]

First point: PLEDGING. Doing stupid stuff to earn the members' respect and loyalty. If I have to do dumb things to join ANY organization and to earn respect, that's not the kind of respect I want to earn.

Hmm, last time I checked the military academies were still hazing new members. I mean, the upperclassmen still treat freshmen like dirt, and haze them mercilessly, don't they? "Beast Barracks" still exists, doesn't it? Fraternities can't hold a candle to some of the crap I've read about - oh, but that's "tradition" for the U.S. military, isn't it?

Given the numbers we ahd at the time, if everybody paid their dues on time, the debts to the national chapter would be gone in two months; it was a full year after first starting the colony, and yet the debts were still on the books. Where was the money going? The treasurer didn't seem to have a good answer, and nobody else really seemed to care too much.

So because you unfortunately had some bad officers (and I daresay some irresponsible members who didn't pay their dues), somehow fraternities in general are bad? Are you saying you've never heard stories about lack of accountability, or money being lost or wasted, while in the Navy? What planet were you stationed on, by the way?

Leadership and management skills...please. I quit in disgust after a semester. I got real leadership and management training in the Navy, where failures in leadership would have dire consequences.

This line really made me chuckle. Yes, as we all know, no Naval officer ever covers his ass when he screws up. Everyone is always accountable for his mistakes. The guilty are always punished, and the innocent are always rewarded. Sure, you betcha. What brand of Kool-aid did they serve you?

Face it - fraternities and sororities are no different than any other organization made up of human beings. There is good and there is bad. Most Greeks usually try to do the right thing, but sometimes they don't. Sometimes people say one thing but do another. Sometimes people screw up and try to hide their mistakes. But if you're going to condemn Greeks for those things, you're being a hypocrite if you don't condemn the Navy (and practically every other organization since the dawn of time) for exactly the same things.

Re:Isn't this done already?

[crabpeople]

As a fraternity man myself, I usually respond to the old "Greeks buy their friends" line with one of my own:

Me(you): "So you think I bought my friends? Tell me, do you attend church?"

Him(me): "No, I dont believe in mass indoctrination of any kind"

Me(you): "doyeee?? Lookz aat myz myspacez! i iz kool!"

Him(me): "oh yeah. You gonna finish that 26er, friend?"

Lesson: Don't put words in other peoples mouths or they will do it right back.

Re:Isn't this done already?

[frdmfghtr]

Hmm, last time I checked the military academies were still hazing new members. I mean, the upperclassmen still treat freshmen like dirt, and haze them mercilessly, don't they? "Beast Barracks" still exists, doesn't it? Fraternities can't hold a candle to some of the crap I've read about - oh, but that's "tradition" for the U.S. military, isn't it?

Right--one reason I got out of the service. And our CO was pretty hard-core against any hazing. The whole sub squadron got hard-core against hazing when one night, a guy who wouldn't reveal who tacked on his dolphins so hard he got big-ass bruises shot himself while on topside watch.

So because you unfortunately had some bad officers (and I daresay some irresponsible members who didn't pay their dues), somehow fraternities in general are bad? Are you saying you've never heard stories about lack of accountability, or money being lost or wasted, while in the Navy? What planet were you stationed on, by the way?

Did I say all fraternities and sororities were bad based on my bad experience? You must have missed this part of my post where I pointed out my experience may have been an anomaly:

"Maybe I just had the misfortune to have a bad experience, but everything that you mentioned (management and leadership) can be learned elsewhere, without sacrificing one's dignity as the price of entry."

This line really made me chuckle. Yes, as we all know, no Naval officer ever covers his ass when he screws up. Everyone is always accountable for his mistakes. The guilty are always punished, and the innocent are always rewarded. Sure, you betcha. What brand of Kool-aid did they serve you?

In my experience, yes. The submarine fleet is a world apart from the surface Navy, where everybody is accountable by necessity--one mistake by one crewmember can cost everybody their lives. Did my division officer lose paperwork and try to pass it off on me? Sure. I'm not talking about those sorts of CYA tactics. I'm talking about REAL leadership and management where lives are at stake.

But if you're going to condemn Greeks for those things, you're being a hypocrite if you don't condemn the Navy (and practically every other organization since the dawn of time) for exactly the same things.

See the first line of my post where I state that any organization where I have to do dumb stuff to join is not an organization I want to be a part of.

Re:Isn't this done already?

[NeuroKoan]

As a past employee of my universities alumni association (with a greek system) I must comment. It is of no surprise that greeks are our biggest donors, nor is it really a secret. Most of the people who attend the functions and reunions were also greeks, a lot of board members are also greeks, and one of the biggest outreach programs we had was with the current greeks. The only group that rivals greek donations is that of large (and small) corporations making research grants, but those aren't done through the alumni association. As far as I know, it was never a big secret, nor did we hate admission of the fact that greeks are the biggest donors. I'm at a loss to see where you got that assumption.

To be perfectly honest, though, working at the association changed my view on greeks. I used to have the stereotypical anit-greek mentality, but after meeting and talking to former greeks, it made me realize that they are normal people, not the socially stunted beer swilling gorillas that I used to believe frats mainly consisted of. Me, I was still a beer swilling gorilla, but had that chip on my shoulder that I wasn't socially stunted because "I made my friends without paying dues." Regardless, that all changed after working reunions and other events, because it made me realize that greeks were basically the same as me and my friends and were actually pretty cool. I never rushed (still didn't really want to), but at least I got rid of my pre-conceived notions.

Oh, and for what its worth, quite a few people don't go to church or pay a tithing, so I guess you'll need another argument. I mean, I agree that a frat is similar to other social groups that pay money either explicitly or implicitly, but not everyone goes to church.

Unbelievable?

[jlower]

This is unbelievable!

On the contrary, I'd say it was inevitable.

What's wrong with that?

[Groo Wanderer]

Teh weB2.0 is teh rox0r. It just goes to show the power of Web2.0 and it's ability to democratize formerly abstract concepts like friendship, then monetize them. What more can you ask for, you can already buy love in several US states and countries around the world.

        -Charlie

P.S. /. strips sarcasm tags. For the terminally holier-than-thou set, the above was indeed sarcasm.

Normal?

[tsa]

Fake your Space says (and I quote): "We understand that you want your friends to look as normal as possible and as far from fake as possible. I looked around in the Women and Men section, and I didn't see one normal looking person. Check out Molly for instance.

This website is a nice prank.

Yes it can.

[mgblst]

has anybody actually said that money can't buy you friends? I thought we all agreed that it can't buy you love, or happiness, but friends was still wide open. There was always one little rich kid at school who proved that you could, in fact, buy friends.

Re:A treatment for depression?

[BadAnalogyGuy]

I guess I wasn't clear enough. Since we're talking about MySpace users, I meant "I wonder if 'gifting' a friendship in this way could help push over the edge someone who is suicidal."

not that unbelievable

[DreadfulGrape]

People have paid for sex for thousands of years. Pathetic as it may seem, why is it surprising that they'd pay for cyber-friends as well?

Re:not that unbelievable

[misanthrope101]

If I really have to explain why paying for a blowjob from a live girl (dead girls aren't any good, though I guess they're cheaper) is different from paying for fake friends on a website intended to impress people you'll never meet are not even closely related, then something is really wrong here.

Re:A treatment for depression?

[goddidit]

Yes. Please buy me a hooker so I don't kill myself.

New Slogan

[PeeAitchPee]

"Fake Your Space -- A Place For Posers"

Seriously, how is this different than gamers buying virtual goods with real-life money?

Re:A treatment for depression?

[Salvance]

Huh? Why not just create a new user and befriend that person ... even if you had to pretend to be someone else it would be far better than paying for it. Heck, you could go on MySpace and just roam around for users with very few friends and befriend them to lift their spirits. Again, far more noble than paying for friends.

Weird Al didn't need to buy friends....

[hoy74]

He had a pimped out myspace because he was white and nerdy though.

A Fictional Situation.

[jellomizer]

A Fictional Situation.
Location a 8th Grade class in a computer room.
Dude B: Dude, you have no friends you are a complete loser!
Dude A: No way I have ton a friends let me show you.
(Dude A opens his MySpace Page)
Dude A: See all the friends I have!
Dude B: Oh I See I guess you are cool after All.

In real life there Dude B wouldn't care. In all this effort to make yourself seem cool the best you can do is make yourself as part of the crowd. So stop trying to be cool it takes to much effort just try to blend in and you are all set.

Re:A Fictional Situation.

[russ1337]

In real life there Dude B wouldn't care. In all this effort to make yourself seem cool the best you can do is make yourself as part of the crowd. So stop trying to be cool it takes to much effort just try to blend in and you are all set.

If he really wanted to be cool, he would have taken up smoking.

Re:A Fictional Situation.

[wiz31337]

I guess times have changed... In 8th grade, if I would have logged into a *computer* to show someone all of my "friends" I would have gotten a smacked upside the head, laughed at and then promptly called a nerd.

What?!?!?!

[ProppaT]

So you mean all those myspace friends requests I keep getting from scantily clad women are really my friends taking sympathy on me and trying to buy me friends? :(

What's the point in that?

[WhitePanther5000]

It's like buying a prostitute that won't put out...

Re:What's the point in that?

[Bob_Villa]

I get it, you mean a wife.

And for any guy on here actually engaged, remember this:

If you put a quarter in a jar every time you have sex before marriage, and then take one out every time you have sex after marriage,
you will never empty the jar, no matter how long you are married.

Oh, how true it is!

Of course money can buy Friends

[Rik Sweeney]

All 10 seasons are on DVD.

Cash for peerage / friends.

[davro]

Cash for peerage sounds like something Tony Blair would be intrested in.

Bots Detection Bot

[Bots Detection Bot]

This is the real Bots Detection Bot, which has user ID 1033846.

Your account has been suspended.

This thread will be deleted.

My world is collapsing around me!

[dangitman]

These friends aren't even real believe it or not. You can apparently choose from a selection of 'models' to leave you customized comments to look like you have friends and are popular online. This is unbelievable!"

Oh my god, that can't possibly be true! People who pretend to be friends? That's unbelievable! In the real world, nobody would ever pretend to be friends with someone, unless they were real true friends for life, who were willing to die for you!

The internet is just evil. Imagine, people basing popularity just on how attractive someone is? It's not normal.

Re:My world is collapsing around me!

[Tryptch]

On a slight tangent you can always to go http://www.imaginarygirlfriends.com/ maybe they can extend their business line to include social network interactions and yes people do pay for this service... at least i'm guessing... uh yea!!

Re:A treatment for depression?

[aadvancedGIR]

Yes, thank god we are mature enouth to only compete on our user# and karma score only.

sneetches

[roaddemon]

So how long before having good looking friends is perceived as fake, and people start buying ugly friends? Slashdot. I just made you a fortune.

Re:I Use it

[AugustZephyr]

You mean where you met your $0.99 model from fakemyspace.com

Good Question

[mqduck]

Who Says Money Can't Buy Friends?

Actually, that's a good question. I don't recall ever hearing someone say that.

No....you rent them....

[StressGuy]

when the money stops flowing...those "friends" go away.

They aren't

[tacokill]

Nobody is prohibited from making friends with non-members. Not a single fraternity or sorority espouses that thinking. Despite what you seem to think, the "greek community" on most college campuses has lots of inter-mixing of people. After all, it's a college campus, right? And those people represent the same variety that the college represents. The old days of "Biff and Buffy" a la Revenge of the Nerds are long over and in fact, I doubt they ever existed in the first place.

Jeez - get a grip! A fraternity or sorority is only ONE way for people to make lifelong friends. There are, obviously, many others.

All the GP was saying is this: frats and sororities are SOCIAL organizations. And like ANY social organization, you would meet people that you would not have met, had you not joined the organization.

Why is that so hard to understand and why are you purposely trying to twist his words?

Check the whois records

[chundo]

Looks like slashdot has been duped for free advertising again. The submitter's domain (sandiegointeractive.com) and the fakeyourspace.com domain are registered to the same person.

This here is one of them joke sites

[qazwart]

This is a joke site put out by Brant Walker . He's a photographer, video artist, and web designer from San Diego. Check out who owns the domain name.

Either that, or Brant is getting a bit hard up for money.

Friends? No, acquaintances

[jiawen]

One problem is the usage of the word "friends" for what really should be "acquaintances". Someone who reads your $NAME_OF_FORUM_OR_WEBSITE_OR_BLOG page once in a while isn't necessarily a friend. There are people on my "friends" list in a certain blog-forum that aren't actually friends of mine. Some are actually my friends; some, I hope to be friends with in the future; some are friends of friends; others, I just have on my list because I want to hear what they say once in a while, but that doesn't necessarily make them friends.

A lot of the people who post "Ya dude let's go get drunkk!" on Myspace aren't really friends by any reasonable defition. I think Myspace needs a "drinking buddy" button.

Myspace is also for marketing

[gary gunrack]

If you're a musician or band trying to build a grassroots audience, Myspace has become almost indespensible. Thank god the bass-player actually likes myspace, and is willing to maintain the band's account. Thanks to him, we actually managed to attract an audience the first time we played in towns like Boston or NYC, away from our own turf. I'm guessing that FakeSpace is actually geared towards spammy-marketers, not insecure teenagers. If you were marketing to superficial people, the appearance of popularity would make a big difference.

Money still can't buy friends

[Kuvter]

This is just buying the illusion that you have them.

Why you SHOULD buy friends on myspace...

[jkauzlar]

I'm with you. I hesitate to criticize it because many people I like in real life communicate through it. Many geeks meet on IRC or gaming sites.

Here's my case for buying fake friends on MySpace:

Employers are looking at it!! Lie. Make yourself look awesome. You've signed no contract that your myspace page is accurate. If employers look at it to decide who not to hire, then there's an equal chance that if they see something really impressive, it'll work on your side.

Other things you can do:

• Put fake friend messages that say things like "thanks for donating so much time and money to my charity. You're really a benefit to the community." or "thanks for taking your whole weekend to fix my company's website for free. Our techies were stumped until you showed them what to do."
• Under hobbies, put a list of non-profit charities and church organizations
• make an attractive design
• find out the interests of your employers. He/she likes Abba and cross-country skiing, then so do you.
• etc, etc...

What?!?!

[tapehands]

So those really hot triplets (how else can they all have the same picture?) that keep sending me the same message over, and over, and over on myspace are just bots?!?!
MY LIFE IS RUINED!!!!!