

Startup Offering a Virtual Girlfriend on Facebook - dfuhriman
http://cloudgirlfriend.com/9wgl1
Step 1: Define your perfect girlfriend. Step 2: We bring her into existence. Step 3: Connect and interact with her publicly on your favorite social network Step 4: Enjoy a public long distance relationship with your perfect girl.
======
zacharycohn
I feel like if this is at all successful, it's just going to get shut down by
Facebook for creating fake users.

~~~
JonnieCache
Almost certainly. It'll be hilarious while it lasts though. The name alone
cracks me up. Unfortunately they've dropped the ball by not having a painfully
trendy logo with a cartoon girlfriend sitting on a cloud or something.

They should open source it when it gets banned so the fun can continue.

EDIT: just realised - this is basically a more benign version of that
"sockpuppet management" stuff we've been seeing recently. Is this the start of
the rise of the bots within human society?

~~~
bioh42_2
Basshunter's Boten Anna came out in 2006 I think. But yes, the rise of bots on
our networks is inevitable. And they do not have to fool everyone all of the
time, only some for brief periods of time. On-line communication is already
formulaic and does not require a long attention span.

Really, this is just Eliza with a slick new cloud API.

------
Cyranix
If your monthly fee / microtransaction payment is declined, be prepared for a
nasty breakup.

------
jbooth
I think this is the first time I've ever seen a story on HN and wished it was
on Slashdot for the comments.

------
pohl
Virtual social proof. An ePivot. Pre-selection DHV as a service. I love it.

~~~
eof
This is clearly the value here.. not the interaction itself, but the social
status of having some hot babe liking all your status updates.

~~~
VladRussian
to the extent that after some time you may start believing in her existence.
Human mind can do wonders ... to itself.

~~~
pohl
...and well beyond that extent. Social proof is a NOP sled for escalating
sexual privileges in another mind, too.

~~~
VladRussian
wrt. self-escalating feedback cycle i liked this experiment

[http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2008-06-03-birds-
testos...](http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2008-06-03-birds-
testosterone_N.htm)

------
rmason
I'm willing to bet that a lot of you are only upset because you didn't have
the idea first ;<)

------
benwerd
I'm pretty sure this takes outsourcing a step or two too far.

Personally, I'm hoping it's some kind of social experiment, and they're going
to come out with some OKCupid-style expository blog posts in a few months.

(If anyone's seriously considering this, do ask yourself if it's really going
to make you happy ...)

~~~
larrik
The idea that you would actually want this for the social interaction never
occurred to me. My first reaction was that this was the next generation of

    
    
      1) "I have a girlfriend!"
      2) "Great! Can I meet her?"
      3) "Uh no, she lives far away"
      4) "Oh. Then how did you meet?"
      5) "Um, summer camp?"
      6) "Suuurrrre."
    

Edit: I still don't understand HN's line break formatting.

Edit 2: Thanks

~~~
RiderOfGiraffes
At the bottom of every page there's a link to the FAQ:
<http://ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html>

That has the question: "What kind of formatting can you use in comments?"
followed by this link:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc>

That says:

    
    
      Blank lines separate paragraphs.
    
      Text after a blank line that is indented by
      two or more spaces is reproduced verbatim.
      (This is intended for code.)
    
      Text surrounded by asterisks is italicized,
      if the character after the first asterisk isn't
      whitespace.
    
      Urls become links, except in the text field
      of a submission.
    

Does that answer your question? You get a line break by leaving a blank line.

------
BillGoates
Only 8 more days till April 1st

------
nhebb
Great, now when I see those insipid Microsoft ("To the cloud!") commercials,
I'll envision some lonely guy with a bottle of lotion, logging into Facebook.

------
eof
My perfect girlfriend can solve the P vs NP problem.

------
indytim
To make it especially realistic, they could offer a physical address to which
you could send gifts. As an add-cost feature.

------
deffibaugh
Talk about solving a burning market need..

------
kalendae
if they can pull it off (terms of service violations and what not) this will
be brilliant, it is just a viral bomb ready to go off the things that can
happen. I see chat roulette like kind of infamy very quickly.

------
frb
It's just the next logical step!

First SaaS then PaaS and now RaaS: Relationship as a Service

------
indytim
Good plug for launchrock - this should get some visibility, surely.

~~~
jaymstr
Ya, I can't reveal numbers, but they're blowing up.

------
akanet
cloudboyfriend.com suspiciously absent. market opportunity, anyone?

~~~
svrocks
[http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/brownie-
husband...](http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/brownie-
husband/1218011/)

can this tide you over until that gets implemented?

------
Turing_Machine
Whatever happened to good old-fashioned sockpuppeting? :-)

------
santana
i'd take a virtual boyfriend as long as he can deliver

~~~
VladRussian
it seems there is really dry season in your geography to trigger you to make
your first comment on HN :).

~~~
santana
do i get points for that? ;)

~~~
VladRussian
at least i gave my point for that reason :)

------
royalm
it won't work

