For just $25 a month, a U.S. company will provide its clients with the perfect girlfriend or boyfriend experience -- digitally, at least.
The U.S.-based Invisible Girlfriend and Invisible Boyfriend services "help you tell a story about a relationship you aren't actually in," according to the website for the company, which will send you thoughtful text messages, leave voicemails and even mail you a hand-written note, just to show that someone cares -- even if they don't really.
"I've had these ideas for Invisible Girlfriend and Invisible Boyfriend for almost nine years," said co-founder Matt Homann. "I bought the domains when I was newly divorced and realized how much judgement there is for people who are single."
Though the company is just three months old, it already has 60,000 users -- 63 per cent of whom are women.
People sign up for many different reasons, Homann said, from a simple desire for contact and affection, to eliminating some of the pressure from well-meaning, but often annoying, loved ones.
"People are getting tired of being asked by mom and dad if they're dating; folks are getting hit on at work, some people just want to concentrate on their jobs. But even beyond that, we've found a fair number of our users are folks who, in fact, are using it just to have someone to converse with," Homann told CTV Atlantic.
Customers who sign up get to "build" their significant other, designing his or her personality, interests, hobbies, looks. They even craft a narrative around how they met -- all with the help of the online service.
"You'll then get a direct text from your new significant other," the website explains. "From there, you can chat normally with your Invisible Girlfriend, who is actually written by an online workforce. You're texting with real, but anonymous, people."
Homann and his colleagues have tapped into a real societal need, said Ross Simmonds, a digital strategist who says $25 per month is a small price to pay for many people looking for an end to those awkward conversations that start with: “Soooo, are you dating anyone?”
"They've found a real need -- people are willing to pay $25 just to get out of those awkward conversations," Simmonds said. He sees nothing wrong with the service and said it could even help socially awkward individuals learn some new dating skills.
"Interactions that happen on a day-to-day basis are happening online, over the phone, through Facebook messages and things like that so this is an opportunity for people to fine tune those skills," Simmonds said.
In a perfect world, Homann said, his service wouldn't need to exist because people would feel free to live life on their own terms without having to justify their choices to others.
But until that happens, he is more than willing to provide a digital girlfriend or boyfriend to help take some of the pressure off -- for less per month than the price of cable television.
With a report from CTV Atlantic
