Social experiment: Would you rent a friend?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of a service that allows individuals to "rent a friend" for platonic companionship, with a minimum fee of $10/hour. Participants explore the implications, potential market, and societal perceptions of such a service, considering its application in various contexts like social events and unfamiliar environments.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that the service could help individuals who are new to a city or socially anxious by providing companionship and guidance.
  • Others draw parallels between this service and escort services, questioning the nature of friendship when it is commodified.
  • A few participants humorously compare the concept to marriage or suggest it could be a "rent-to-own" model.
  • Concerns are raised about the potential for manipulation and the perception of friendship as a business commodity.
  • Some participants propose that using the term "companion" might be more appropriate than "friend" to avoid negative connotations.
  • There is curiosity about the gender balance among those offering companionship services, with speculation that more women might be rented than men.
  • One participant shares a personal anecdote about pretending to be a suitor, highlighting the informal nature of such arrangements.
  • Suggestions are made for a credit system that allows individuals to earn credits by participating in the service, making it more freelance-oriented.
  • Participants express uncertainty about the definition of friendship and whether rented companionship can fulfill the same role as traditional friendships.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the implications of renting a friend, with multiple competing views on its nature, potential benefits, and drawbacks remaining unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Participants express various assumptions about societal acceptance of such services and the potential for misunderstanding the nature of friendship in a commodified context. The discussion reflects a range of perspectives on the ethical and social implications of renting companionship.

BenVitale
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New site let's you rent a friend for a minimum of $10/hour ... strictly platonic, fees are negotiable.

http://www.everydaymoney.ca/2010/07/new-site-lets-you-rent-a-friend-for-10hour.html

This service is available only in the U.S.A and Canada.
Could this service be extended to other countries?

If marketed well, it won't ONLY be for the socially deficient and lonely people.

Although making friends may be the toughest thing for some people, for whatever reason. For instance, you're moving to a big city, say N.Y.C. -- NYC can be very intimidating to many -- you don't know anyone there. Answer: you could rent an instant friend for a minimum of $10/hour (fees negotiable) to show you your way around the city, the places to hang out, it would increase your chances to meet people outside your workplace, outside your comfort zone, and that may help you climb the social ladder a bit faster.

It's good job opportunity for people who are good at keeping a conversation alive, and also for those who are socially experienced.

I'm trying to put a positive spin on this business opportunity... because people usually like to view themselves in a positive light and as better than average (Read "Self-enhancement bias")

Could you share some of your ideas to put a positive spin on this?

And, generally speaking, would do you think of this social experiment?
 
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Isn't this what en escort does?
 
John Creighto said:
Isn't this what en escort does?

Escort service is a different business model ... they don't do what is described above.

That's why I'm trying to put a positive spin on this in order to help potential customers put distances with the Escort-service model.
 
Isn't that called marriage? Oh wait, that's buying a friend - not renting. Maybe it's rent-to-own.
 
brainstorm said:
Isn't that called marriage?

It's not a marriage contract ... just friendship.

Oh wait, that's buying a friend - not renting. Maybe it's rent-to-own.

Rent-to-own! That's funny. We cannot use this description on a business model, it won't resonate very well with potential customers.

It's just friendship, no sex involved.

Basically, you can enter your zip code and search for someone nearby to spend time with you, doing anything you want to do---except sex.

It's not a dating website, and not an escort agency.

It could be a good job opportunity for people who have good social skills, and they can teach someone with a new skill or hobby, or show him/her around an unfamiliar town.
 
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So basically you are doing market research in order to try and figure out how to re-brand something that already exists. Not all escort services involve sex. Legally they are not suppose to in a lot of places. If you have to buy a friend what makes them really your friend? As far as a good companionship model the Japanese geisha sounds like an intriguing profession.
 
John Creighto said:
So basically you are doing market research in order to try and figure out how to re-brand something that already exists. Not all escort services involve sex. Legally they are not suppose to in a lot of places. If you have to buy a friend what makes them really your friend? As far as a good companionship model the Japanese geisha sounds like an intriguing profession.

Yeah, I would like to see how gender-balanced the "rentals" would be. I'm guessing slightly more women would be rented than men.
 
I'm not really doing a market research on this site. In order to make it right, I would need to reach/target a specific sample of my audience. I cannot and should not speak with the whole web.

I'm just sharing this concept with this community ... and only two people (brainstorm and John Creighto) have jumped into discuss this business idea.

gender-balanced?

Yeah, I'm curious about that, too.

Something similar happened to me: a woman asked me to pretend to be her suitor for a weekend, and we went visiting with her family. No money, no sex involved. But she promised she would return the favor if and when I would need a "fake" friend.

From a business point of view, this was a failure.

Would you rent a friend for a minimum of $10/hour - depending on the difficulty level of performance ?

Say, you need an "instant" to go to...

(a) A wedding, a funeral
(b) the right places to socialize more effectively, widen your horizons
(c) special meetings where your rented friend would make a speech, or sing.
(d) sports training, golf, tennis, etc.
(e) other

People are becoming busier with their careers or jobs, they find little time or have no more inclination to cook, so they go to restaurants, or they order out, or frozen foods, and more and more, find very little time to socialize.

Answer? Rent a friend.

The only wrinkle with this idea: people could perceive friendship as a business commodity.

This is potentially annoying.
 
BenVitale said:
The only wrinkle with this idea: people could perceive friendship as a business commodity.

This is potentially annoying.

Especially when your "friend" starts playing games with you to try to manipulate you to order their services more often. This seems like a recipe for disaster to me. Maybe you should call it something other than a "friend" service. Maybe "companion" would be a better word to use.
 
  • #10
An interesting concept would be allow people to get credits to use the system by working in it. In other words make it a free lance type of thing.
 
  • #11
John Creighto said:
An interesting concept would be allow people to get credits to use the system by working in it. In other words make it a free lance type of thing.

Could you please elaborate on credit-system?
 
  • #12
brainstorm said:
Maybe "companion" would be a better word to use.

Perhaps.

Societies have accepted online dating sites, sex sites such as Ashley Madison, which facilitates extramarital hookups ... maybe more time will be needed to accept the concept of renting a friend.

Consider Jennifer Morrison or simply "Jennifer," platonic friend for hire: $20 to $30 an hour.

Read more ...

It seems to me that people who would use such a service would tend to choose a member of the opposite gender.
 
  • #13
To message #12
I would also wonder what is really a friend. I would like some comments on this.
A friend is it someone with whom you drink some beers? Someone with whom you agree on you comments of baseball? Or someone that agrees with you in politics?
I would like to know what is a friend.
John Galaor
 
  • #14
John Galaor said:
To message #12
I would also wonder what is really a friend. I would like some comments on this.

The "rented friend" is a pal. You pick and choose and find a profile of somebody who's into what you're into ... it should not be a substitute for meaningful face-to-face relationships.

A friend is it someone with whom you drink some beers? Someone with whom you agree on you comments of baseball? Or someone that agrees with you in politics?

Not necessarily. Say you want to visit Miami for the first time, and cannot find anyone to go there with you, for what ever reasons, you could then rent a friend from Miami to show you around. The rented friend is sort of a tour guide for you. He or she will show you Miami entertainment scene, the cool places to hang out, places you might not have discovered on your own, thus increasing your Miami-enjoyment experience... maybe on your next trip to Miami you could impress your own 'real' friends.

Examples depicted in the article I posted:

>an introverted, out-of-town computer programmer hired Jennifer when he went to Las Vegas
>A bored grandmother visiting family from the Midwest hired Jennifer for an afternoon movie
>Christopher Barton, 31, of Boulder City, Nev., during a business trip ...
>Two students rented parents to meet with college officials after they were caught drinking on campus.
>A woman once hired a college girl to visit her mother in a nursing home three days a week after she moved away
>to rent a fill-in family member for a wedding, like a father figure or someone to stand in as an important uncle to give a toast
 
  • #15
Ok, Ok. I got the concept. A friend in a light sense of the term. Then, being a hired friend, would not tell you something you don't want to here, unless it would be warning you of not getting into some trouble.
Yeah. A good idea. A little shocking at first, then it is a sensible idea.
John Galaor
.
 

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