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

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

#181

Post by ChrisClark »

Animats wrote: post #169

Virtual girlfriends have been popular in Japan for years. Love Plus (2009) for the Nintendo DS was the first to catch on. There are now many others. Some text and send you pictures of what they're doing. You can send your virtual girlfriend presents on-line, which costs real money. Now in beta, an Oculus Rift virtual girlfriend.

> You can send your virtual girlfriend presents on-line, which costs real money.

Pure profit. In App Payments for the lonely. Not sure how I'd feel if I was making money off that.

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

#182

Post by aetherson »

Karunamon wrote: post #175
sharkweek wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing with the "crossing over" folks who claim to talk to dead relatives right? "You had a family member who passed recently right? Or someone really close to you" "Yes, yes! My aunt passed away earlier this year!" "Ah, yes! And... and... she was sick right? Or in pain close to her death?" "Wow, yes!!" "You were close with her, or you were close with her family right?" ...etc

That theory kind of breaks down when they get into specifics about military service, clothing, scars, etc. Things that a cold reader wouldn't have any access to.

Cold reading is certainly not the only kind of fake psychic scam. For example, hot reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_reading

However, a skilled cold reader will in fact get specifics (though they'll also have bad guesses), by making further general guesses based on the information you've already confirmed for them. For example, military service is very common for men in a certain age range, who were drafted to Vietnam. Clothing can be pretty uniform for people who you know to be/can guess to be in a certain demographic. Most people (beyond children) have scars.

If your comment was intended to suggest that some people actually can communicate with dead people: dude, no. It's not true. Your emotions are being preyed on for someone else's profit.

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

#183

Post by TeMPOraL »

SloopJon wrote: post #58
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 remember…

I had a lot of similar feelings with Mass Effect series. In this game all the decisions you make permanently reshape the game world, which carries through the first game to second and third. Major and minor characters in the last game may be missing or doing different things based on your actions in the first game. While playing I felt the impact of my steps in even tiny details.

This, + general storyline and execution of the product made it the first game I found myself to be really involved emotionally with. Say, when I picked up the second game and met an important NPC from the first, I literally felt like I've just rejoined with an old friend. By the third game I actually printed out a photo of my character and her entire team. It's crazy how deep a good video game can touch you.

Oh, and I spent 10-15 minutes thinking heavily about morality and consequences just to choose the right ending...

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

#184

Post by JDiculous »

Torgo wrote: post #173
ergl wrote: post #141

I wonder what would happen if you signed up for a boyfriend and a girlfriend and had them talk to each other

So uh, there are attractive girls on Fiverr that will pretend to be your girlfriend on Facebook for a month (friending, n posts/likes on your posts per month, etc) for five dollars. I paid two of them to "fight" over me just to troll my friends. It turns out this piques interest in other women :-P This is why I don't use my real name on HN.

That's pretty genius actually. Women definitely tend to be more interested in men who are being sought after by other women.

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

#185

Post by soylentcola »

IgorPartola wrote: post #75
SloopJon wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 remember…

Video games have always been very interesting this way to me, and there are some real gems lately that manage to tap into very emotional parts of my brain. Fallout is ripe with ethical dilemmas, almost to the point where I found myself unable to proceed when the choice is not obvious. You know the characters are not real, you are alone playing a single-player game; but you can't help but try to figure out how to help…

Only every played the second Fable but I still remember the one choice you need to make near the end and have to pick one of three "fates".

Not sure if it's considered a spoiler at this point but there's basically the one option to return a beloved companion to life (after recently being forced to suffer his death in the game). It wasn't necessarily the most logical choice nor is it the "smart" choice if you're treating it solely as a game and trying to get the most points/gold/etc....

...but when I was offered that choice there was not a single question which one I would pick. It's all just pixels and textures and sound effects but the chance to return a character that had followed you for most of the game hit me way harder than I might have expected. Manipulative,cheap, emotional exploitation? Maybe. No regrets though.

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

#186

Post by rokhayakebe »

Vaskivo wrote: post #110
tinkerrr wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even so, I can't imagine this app could possible be worth the time I think that's why the founder is talking of expanding the service already, such as getting flowers on Valentine's, say. It might provide social worth to some, who see this extravaganza displayed on every other desk at their work.

I can see this evolving from "let others think I have a boyfriend" to "I'm going to feel like I have a boyfriend". People already pay for sex. People already pay for non-sexual escorts (which i believe is mostly for show-off[0]). I can totally see people paying for the "boyfriend experience". Some random texts, gifts in specific days. A compliment and a "how's your day". All in pure 21st century fashion - social-medi…

I can imagine a lot of people that, while having lots of friends, are emotionally lonely.

"Indeed, being alone is no requisite for being lonely; for many live in the middle of strangers, yet they do not feel safe and loved."

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

#187

Post by at-fates-hands »

briholt wrote: post #145
CitizenKane wrote: post #100

Funny to see this here. My business partner did the design and I'm friends with the team. I can't say that I feel much for the business, but I've been continually impressed by its ability to generate press. People _love_ talking about and debating this concept, and I can't say that I've been completely free from it. That being said, this is currently probably the most covered startup from Saint Louis. While it is nic…

I just learned about this today. This is the greatest marketing concept since "million dollar homepage." My life is a failure for not having thought of this.

I'm sure we all think about stuff like this, then reject it out of hand as if anybody would want/need something like this.

Press is good, profits are better. I'll be interested to see where this is in six months.

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

#188

Post by oldmanjay »

Roodgorf wrote: post #160
tormeh wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> At least it's cheaper than prostitutes. I think there are a few more moral issues with prostitution than its market value.

That's rather broad. There are moral issues with sex slavery, for instance, but prostitution as a concept is fairly amoral unless you mistakenly believe the sexuality of others is something you have a right to judge.

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

#189

Post by justboxing »

I don't understand how their business model could scale, i.e. how they would be profitable, if indeed, they have real person(s) responding to multiple women (or users who've designated themselves as a woman :).

Let say 1 "real human" is responding to 10 women at the same time, the membership income from these 10 users (not accounting for software, hardware overheads even) = $25 / month X 10 paid users = $250.

If this "real human" is located in US, even taking a minimum wage of $10 / hour and assuming he/she works 160 hours a month ( 8 hours per day x 5 days a week x 4 weeks a month), the cost of having this "real person" on the payroll = $1,600 per month!

$250 - $1,600 = - $1,350. i.e. they would be losing over 1K per every few users if this is how they are doing it.

Unless, of course, the "real human person(s)" responding to multiple women are located in India / China and work for $1 a day or something like that.

Or maybe they are using Machine Learning or some sort of Artificial Intelligence, to come up with "Cute" Texts and responses based on the User's selected preferences and his/her past Texts to this "Invisible Boyfriend".

Only in the last case does it makes sense. But then, they'd be guilty of "false advertizing" if they claim that a "real human person" is at the other end responding...

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

#190

Post by beachstartup »

Torgo wrote: post #173
ergl wrote: post #141

I wonder what would happen if you signed up for a boyfriend and a girlfriend and had them talk to each other

So uh, there are attractive girls on Fiverr that will pretend to be your girlfriend on Facebook for a month (friending, n posts/likes on your posts per month, etc) for five dollars. I paid two of them to "fight" over me just to troll my friends. It turns out this piques interest in other women :-P This is why I don't use my real name on HN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_theory
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