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“I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

washingtonpost.com

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Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#51

Post by comboy »

beaumartinez wrote: post #16
comboy wrote: post #7

Reminded me of "The Entire History of You" from Black Mirror[1] tv series (I really don't feel like calling it that way, it's more like a separate movies). I highly recommend it. I wonder how long it takes before those lower(st) paid jobs for those that are not specialized in anything will be in something like mechanical turk. Especially in this example it's visible that those can sometimes require somewhat local wor…

Funny, it reminded me more of the episode "Be Right Back".

Oh, right! Sorry I didn't remember the title and checked wrong.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#52

Post by loceng »

xianshou wrote: post #2

A perfect application of the Forer effect: humans have an amazing ability to interpret what can apply to anyone as having special significance for themselves. It's the same reason why horoscopes and fortune cookies work. Stepping back and thinking logically, it's easy to see why their messages might apply to a lot of people. But when you're reading one, you can't help but think, "Ah! It says that I would encounter ad…

There's a fine line (maybe not so fine) as to when something becomes manipulation IMHO - though if someone's paying $25 monthly for someone(s) to chat with to feel connected then I suppose they've applied an added bias or value; makes me feel a bit sad if the people aren't doing it just for fun.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#53

Post by taejo »

lrei wrote: post #47

I wonder why they have the silly 2 + 3 = ? thing in their form at the bottom of the homepage. It's text/html, so it can't be anti-bot and seems like pointless for a human... Does anyone else know the logic behind that?

It's anti-bot. It doesn't prevent bots targeting that page, but those don't exist.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#54

Post by CyberShadow »

lrei wrote: post #47

I wonder why they have the silly 2 + 3 = ? thing in their form at the bottom of the homepage. It's text/html, so it can't be anti-bot and seems like pointless for a human... Does anyone else know the logic behind that?

I don't see the field you're referring to, but I'll try to answer with a best guess anyway.

Most web spam bots fall into two categories:

1. They target a certain web software package (such as WordPress), for which they know the HTML layout and the range of possible CAPTCHA challenges.

2. They try to fill out every HTML form they find blindly, using heuristics based on the names of form input elements.

To defeat both, all you need to do is to write a custom HTML form by hand (which defeats category 1), and add a simple CAPTCHA challenge (which defeats category 2).

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#55

Post by noir_lord »

unlogic wrote: post #41
werid wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She doesn't need an invisible boyfriend. She's testing it for the article. In one of her texts to "Ryan" she writes: "Ha, you're better than my real bf".

I wonder how OK it is in their relationship to say things like that. That's obviously a joke, but it still comes quite bitter when such phrases are then revealed to general public.

No it doesn't, it comes across as a light hearted joke.

Context is important as is apparently a thicker skin.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#56

Post by falcolas »

This makes for an interesting thought experiment, particularly when you compare and contrast it with the concept of the "waifu" (loosely, an animated character from Anime or videogames people associate as being their significant other).

One is a coping mechanism for handing external pressures, the other internal. I wonder how healthy either can be in the long run.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#57

Post by tormeh »

loceng wrote: post #52
xianshou wrote: post #2

A perfect application of the Forer effect: humans have an amazing ability to interpret what can apply to anyone as having special significance for themselves. It's the same reason why horoscopes and fortune cookies work. Stepping back and thinking logically, it's easy to see why their messages might apply to a lot of people. But when you're reading one, you can't help but think, "Ah! It says that I would encounter ad…

There's a fine line (maybe not so fine) as to when something becomes manipulation IMHO - though if someone's paying $25 monthly for someone(s) to chat with to feel connected then I suppose they've applied an added bias or value; makes me feel a bit sad if the people aren't doing it just for fun.

People are doing sadder things than this to keep the emotional lights on. At least it's cheaper than prostitutes.

You know the saddest first-world thing I've ever heard? A prostitute doing a reddit AMA had a client once that wanted her to sing "happy birthday" for him. It was his birthday and no one else was going to.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#58

Post by SloopJon »

xianshou wrote: post #2

A perfect application of the Forer effect: humans have an amazing ability to interpret what can apply to anyone as having special significance for themselves. It's the same reason why horoscopes and fortune cookies work. Stepping back and thinking logically, it's easy to see why their messages might apply to a lot of people. But when you're reading one, you can't help but think, "Ah! It says that I would encounter ad…

> No matter how deeply we trust our logical conclusions, our emotional response remains the same. We can't help but feel worthier when we're being praised (even by computers ...), hurt when we're being insulted, and connected when we're being connected with.

I just started playing The Walking Dead. In one scene, after another character saved Clementine from a zombie before I could, the game said, "Clementine remembers that you didn't save her." A very different feeling than failing and having to replay from a checkpoint.

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#59

Post by return0 »

Not surprised that it works, it looks like something fun to do on both sides. In fact, i believe people who love romance would sign up for a free service like this on both ends. (Since their niche is people who dont want to have the actual relationships, they could easily pair up their users with each other as pure conversation partners).

The sad thing is the reason that this app exists. Has it become so taboo to be single that you have to pay to hide it?

Re: “I paid $25 for an Invisible Boyfriend, and I think I might be in love”

#60

Post by aerialcombat »

tormeh wrote: post #57
loceng wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a fine line (maybe not so fine) as to when something becomes manipulation IMHO - though if someone's paying $25 monthly for someone(s) to chat with to feel connected then I suppose they've applied an added bias or value; makes me feel a bit sad if the people aren't doing it just for fun.

People are doing sadder things than this to keep the emotional lights on. At least it's cheaper than prostitutes. You know the saddest first-world thing I've ever heard? A prostitute doing a reddit AMA had a client once that wanted her to sing "happy birthday" for him. It was his birthday and no one else was going to.

I totally agree with this.
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