Should you get an Invisible Boyfriend?
Need a boyfriend, fast? Now you can get a fake one for $24.99 a month.
For that price, 鈥溾�� (and 鈥溾��) will let users customize their very own virtual significant other, complete with name, bio, photo, and a fictional account of how they met. A team of Web developers, entrepreneurs, and what the site describes as "romance experts" 鈥� actual people, not bots 鈥� then creates the user鈥檚 desired partner and crafts real-time replies to texts, leaves voice messages, and even sends one handwritten postcard a month.
鈥淭his platform helps you create credible, reasonable stories that you can bring home to curious mom, your buddies, and coworkers,鈥� according to the app鈥檚 site.
The concept is simple: 鈥淚nvisible Boyfriend鈥� (or 鈥淕irlfriend鈥�) is for anyone who wants to catch a break from the expectations of being in a relationship, the site says, or for someone who is looking for a safe space to hone real-world social skills.
The app can also be used by people in same-sex relationships who are hiding from disapproving relatives, after the beta version of 鈥淚nvisible Girlfriend鈥� came out in 2013. It鈥檚 also good for deflecting unwelcome advances from a colleague, Mr. Homann added, or for those who just want to focus on work instead of relationships.
It can even 鈥渋nspire just enough jealousy to jolt that special person into committing,鈥� .
News of the app, which launched its current version on Jan. 20, has already gone viral, and no surprise: have been around for a while, and the 鈥淚nvisible鈥� series promises the most realistic fake relationships in the market for those who are looking for the full experience without the strings.
But some warn of the potential fallout of having a perfect, imaginary partner. Journalist Caitlin Dewey tried 鈥淚nvisible Boyfriend鈥� for herself and found that even knowing her partner was fake didn鈥檛 stop her from thinking she could, over time, develop real feelings for him (or them, as it were).
鈥淎ll things considered,鈥� , 鈥渋t鈥檚 hardly a jump to suggest someone might develop feelings for a 鈥榖elievable鈥� virtual human who caters to her every whim. That鈥檚 basically the plot of 鈥楬er,鈥� isn鈥檛 it?鈥�
Citing the virtual world and the many relationships that carry on between avatars there, she added that there are plenty of people who fall in love with men or women who are only as real as the facts they choose to share.
Columnist Jess Zimmerman, who also tested the app, found that she was uneasy with the idea that real people were behind the fake persona she had created.
鈥淔or me,鈥� , 鈥渢his app falls squarely into the Uncanny Valley between intimacy and estrangement, in a way that makes it suddenly feel unsafe.鈥� Despite being a self-proclaimed fan of social robots, she added, 鈥渁pparently there are some relationships that even I prefer to have offline.鈥�
Using 鈥淚nvisible Boyfriend鈥� to deceive friends and family 鈥� one of the app鈥檚 the main selling points 鈥� could also be a problem in the long run. It鈥檚 a small, almost silly deception, but in an article on lying, :
According to psychologist Bella DePaulo, we tell white lies to avoid hurting someone or to avoid conflict. Often these white lies backfire, as when we鈥檙e found out, we look worse than we would have by telling the truth. White lies can also build on themselves, leading to bigger lies that people tell to cover up their smaller ones. By telling lie after lie, we eventually can suffer from building a false version of reality that increasingly distances us from our real selves. After repeatedly lying about the same thing, we may even come to believe it is true.
Still, in an interview with the Post鈥檚 Dewey, Homann defended his invention, saying that people who buy and use 鈥淚nvisible Boyfriend鈥� are well aware of what the app does.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e in on the joke,鈥� he pointed out. 鈥淵ou know it鈥檚 a service you鈥檝e signed up for. It鈥檚 not a substitute for love.鈥�
