Slashdot Mirror
Need a Friend? Rent One Online
crimeandpunishment writes "Housewives, college students, and others are working for a website that charges users an hourly rate for their companionship. No, it's not an escort service — at least it's not one 'with benefits.' It's a site called rentafriend.com, that's trying to carve out a niche in the 'everything's available online' business world. The seven-month-old site, patterned after hugely successful sites in Asia, has nearly 2,000 members who pay either a monthly or yearly fee to check out the pictures and profiles of more than 160,000 potential pals." I thought Craigslist had already cornered the market on renting a friend for an hour or two.
Or you could simply add a bunch of random people of Facebook and see how many accept your friend request.
And my mom was paying them.
Since Slashdotters have no friends, and we get close to 5 million visitors monthly around here, I can tell they'll be cashing in on some money.
16/f/Cali for me please?
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
Rule 34?
Is it just me, or is this creepy beyond belief?
Emotions! In your brain!
n/m
....but are 'friends' electric?
Squirrel!
So in a way you can rent a "Friend with Benefit", in the proper sense of the term.
This service isn't anything to do with being "friends". It's essentially a counselling service where anyone can volunteer to be a paid listener, and people who need someone to either talk to or simply to be there so they can overcome their social issues of going somewhere alone can pay them.
I actually think it's a good idea *if* the people on both sides of the transaction are being honest about what they want out of it.
And now I've no-one to love =(
I'm no social butterfly, but when I'm alone out of town I have no problem going to a bar and finding random people to talk to. It's not hard, people. Beer helps.
Whale
But when you reach a certain age, it becomes harder and harder to meet new friends. I used to have tons of them, but then I moved to a new city and have almost none here. And if you're too old for the clubs, don't have a family, and aren't religious or a sports fan--you're pretty much SOL in many places. I can see where something like this would be appealing.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I've often thought a service like this would be great for travelers.
I'm married and have lots of friends, but many times I've traveled to new places by myself and had no freaking idea what to do or where to eat (and I hate generic chain restaurant food), so it would be worth $30-$40 for someone to show you around for a couple of hours.
From the description given on the page, all the services provided by this website are offered by the couchsurfing community, for free.
Who needs a friend for money when you can have a lively conversation on /. for free? It's almost the same thing without possibility of physical contact, and how is that not a plus?
You can't handle the truth.
Do they come with a car and is it cheaper than movers?
I'll be someone's friend for money. I'm really interesting and have many divers...why is everyone laughing?
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
Anyone remember this cartoon show? There was an episode where Buster Bunny was working for Acme Rent-a-Friend. While it was funny, it also made for good social commentary. It seemed to hint that people will go at great lengths to make money, so much so that they will prey on people's basic need for companionship.
Or, just pay $30 a year for Xbox Live and talk to all sorts of random people while playing games. Don't like the group you're chatting with? Just leave the game and pick another one...a never-ending supply of disposable friends!
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Assuming this is strictly online (I can't be bothered with reading TFA) then it sounds like a very clever scam or an awesome Turing competition with unwitting participants.
In a consume-oriented society. Need a friend? Just rent one.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
We love you, Dan Kim.
Like what..Medical? Long Term Disability?
WTF? Over?
Actually, I find nothing to laugh about there.
The thing is, it seems to be a common ailment. I see people all the time who are that desperate for social interaction that they'll try to chat up the cashier at the supermarket or the teller at the bank... with a long line forming behind them. Typically old people too. You can see a select few really desperate at it, too.
What I really don't get is why doesn't someone make a club of sorts for that. There are literally thousands of old people who'd like to talk to someone, in any given town. Can't someone, maybe even one of them, organize something? Doesn't even have to involve any fancy or expensive stuff. I'm thinking even something like "let's all go to the river and chat".
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
I read the suggestions of others here and all I can say is "Do you think we haven't tried and failed at these methods?" Either you're not as old as we are, or you're a damn-sight more social than you realize.
There's a reason why males unmarried by 45 tend to die alone. They have better chances at the 6 pick lotto.
We in the Illuminati are actually getting pretty pissed off just meeting the same of crowd of Hidden Masters, Temple Measurers, Rosicrucians, and members of the Tres. If you're into illumination, secret world domination, and communication with superior beings, post your email and we'll get in touch. Provided of course that you can prove you're female, a virgin, aged between 18 and 21, and have no pesky living close relatives. Oh shit did I really write that?
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
Like in the case of the other by-the-hour service, you don't pay people to be friends with you, you pay them to go away. Real friendships are a lot of work that not everyone is willing to invest in every instance. Imagine that you have a family and a busy job, but you are away on a business function for two weeks. Wouldn't you want someone to show you around town without having to talk about work or promising to call later? I know most slashdot readers are not in this position, but wouldn't you want to earn enough pocket money to buy a new laptop while spending time with successful professionals that you seek to emulate?
"People e-mail me all the time about it. Is it legal? Is it really platonic? There's no 100 percent way to be sure, but we have zero tolerance if a friend says they were solicited. There's no second chance," Rosenbaum said.
My mother doesn't permit me to drink beer because it's against her freaking religion, and I have to do whatever my mother says (even though I'm in my late 30's! Please kill me.) It doesn't matter anyway because bars are "bad" and people who go to bars are "evil, dirty people".
Long story short, I have no way to meet people because all the things people do to meet people are somehow "bad" by her standards, so I never learned how.
I'm going to go back to my corner and wait for death to come.
Then I suddenly don't understand the problem any more. In fact I'm thoroughly confused.
I see people for whom loneliness in the old age is a very serious problem. I see them desperate enough for human interaction to wait in a line for a human teller instead of using the ATM in the hall and then desperately try to chat up the teller. And you can occasionally hear one complain about how lonely he/she is, how everyone abandoned her, daughter doesn't call often enough, nobody else ever wants to talk to him/her, etc.
Now you're telling me there _are_ senior centers for just that.
Umm... So why don't these people use them, then? I must be missing something very obvious there.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Dude, I'm an aspie. I have about as much savvy and finesse for social occasions as my cat has for scuba diving.
But what's being proposed here doesn't boil down to "go pick up a super-model in a bar", nor even something as radical as finding someone you can live with all day long for a marriage, but basically to "there must be other people at your age and with the same interests." Since you tried and failed, exactly what _was_ the problem? No, seriously, I'm curious.
As I've been saying before, there are literally thousands of retired seniors in any town worth that name. Some hundreds to thousands of them profess being terminally lonely and badly in need to talk to someone. The OP even basically proposes to pay for someone to talk to.
Exactly what _is_ the great impediment that prevents all this pool of people who badly want to talk to someone, from talking to each other?
I mean, really. You want to talk to someone. They want to talk to someone. Some even desperately. I'm obviously missing something, because to me it sounds like the problem is its own solution. Surely if you're that badly in need of social interaction, you can tolerate another willing interlocutor for an hour or two even if their personality isn't exactly bride/groom class. What _is_ preventing it?
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
I also wanted to add that there are sites and MMOs and IRC channels for just about any interest group imaginable, if that's more tolerable for you than in-person dealing with another lonely senior or your set of interests is particularly under-represented in your area. If you can label your hobby or fetish in less than 50 characters, chances are there's at least one IRC channel and one newsgroup/mailing list about it. Or you can organize a casual player guild on the MMO of your choice, or whatever.
So, seriously, if someone is on the internet and capable of posting a complaint about how lonely they are, why wouldn't they be there?
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
There's mention of rental sisters here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/magazine/15japanese.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
How much do I have to pay these people to lose PvP deathmatches against me?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
1. Are you smart enough to get in?
2. Are you smart enough to quit?
Bonus: Are you smart enough to take one look at the group of self-absorbed wankers and run like Hell?
He put his boots up on the table and made a face. "The sig," he smirked. "You can waste your life in search of the sig."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0201888/
I'm busy. My old friends are busy too. Family life is great but I must censor myself constantly. So if I want an anonymous companion to chit-chat with for an hour I am a creepy lowlife? Great. Thanks. Enjoy that ulcer, Buddy. You earned it.