Who Says Money Can't Buy Friends?

Courtney5000 writes "It looks like some users of popular networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook have stooped so low as to actually pay real money for friends. These friends aren't even real believe it or not. You can apparently choose from a selection of 'models' to leave you customized comments to look like you have friends and are popular online. This is unbelievable!"

It could be from Japan and not unbelievable

[slaida1]

All kinds of fake friend services are common. Nothing special there.

What's wrong with that?

[Groo Wanderer]

Teh weB2.0 is teh rox0r. It just goes to show the power of Web2.0 and it's ability to democratize formerly abstract concepts like friendship, then monetize them. What more can you ask for, you can already buy love in several US states and countries around the world.

        -Charlie

P.S. /. strips sarcasm tags. For the terminally holier-than-thou set, the above was indeed sarcasm.

Normal?

[tsa]

Fake your Space says (and I quote): "We understand that you want your friends to look as normal as possible and as far from fake as possible. I looked around in the Women and Men section, and I didn't see one normal looking person. Check out Molly for instance.

This website is a nice prank.

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[Salvance]

/. represents a relatively small, select group of people ... not at all indicative of the masses. MySpace and Facebook are hugely popular with the general population, and in particular with high schoolers and college kids. Most adults would consider this large segment of the population "superficial", so it stands to reason that a good social networking site would mirror its userbase's traits.

But what social networks do folks here use? Is there a good one that offers the benefits of a Facebook or Myspace, while being less superficial and spammy?

Re:And how many here use myspace?

[hnile_jablko]

I dont know of any good social network site technically. A lot of /.ers like to criticise the status quo as much as possible so myspace is a frequent target. Now it is true, that myspace technically blows goats. And it is also true there are parasites of all sorts out there looking to make money or probe other people on myspace (this is true of the real world as well). But there is also security to keep these people away from you.Basically I use it because all my non-geek/non-nerd friends can use the site relatively easy.
I use the site because I move from country to country a lot. It is the best way for me to remain in a social group (albeit virtually) with my friends from home and the friends I have made elsewhere. All my friends have their pages setup to not accept messages unless the person can enter my friend's real name or email address when prompted. So it its what you are willing to allow people and be a particpant on myspace which reveals a lot about you on the site... and people understand that others are lonely and desperately want to be popular. Its an unfortunate fact which never changes regardless how old we get. Some of us mature out of this and some do not. I would like to think I am one of those who have matured(until I see Natalie Portman has a new film released when i become a stupid stalker man again.... : )) Just my 2p.

Check the whois records

[chundo]

Looks like slashdot has been duped for free advertising again. The submitter's domain (sandiegointeractive.com) and the fakeyourspace.com domain are registered to the same person.

Myspace is also for marketing

[gary gunrack]

If you're a musician or band trying to build a grassroots audience, Myspace has become almost indespensible. Thank god the bass-player actually likes myspace, and is willing to maintain the band's account. Thanks to him, we actually managed to attract an audience the first time we played in towns like Boston or NYC, away from our own turf. I'm guessing that FakeSpace is actually geared towards spammy-marketers, not insecure teenagers. If you were marketing to superficial people, the appearance of popularity would make a big difference.

Why you SHOULD buy friends on myspace...

[jkauzlar]

I'm with you. I hesitate to criticize it because many people I like in real life communicate through it. Many geeks meet on IRC or gaming sites.

Here's my case for buying fake friends on MySpace:

Employers are looking at it!! Lie. Make yourself look awesome. You've signed no contract that your myspace page is accurate. If employers look at it to decide who not to hire, then there's an equal chance that if they see something really impressive, it'll work on your side.

Other things you can do:

• Put fake friend messages that say things like "thanks for donating so much time and money to my charity. You're really a benefit to the community." or "thanks for taking your whole weekend to fix my company's website for free. Our techies were stumped until you showed them what to do."
• Under hobbies, put a list of non-profit charities and church organizations
• make an attractive design
• find out the interests of your employers. He/she likes Abba and cross-country skiing, then so do you.
• etc, etc...

Re:Isn't this done already?

[frdmfghtr]

Hmm, last time I checked the military academies were still hazing new members. I mean, the upperclassmen still treat freshmen like dirt, and haze them mercilessly, don't they? "Beast Barracks" still exists, doesn't it? Fraternities can't hold a candle to some of the crap I've read about - oh, but that's "tradition" for the U.S. military, isn't it?

Right--one reason I got out of the service. And our CO was pretty hard-core against any hazing. The whole sub squadron got hard-core against hazing when one night, a guy who wouldn't reveal who tacked on his dolphins so hard he got big-ass bruises shot himself while on topside watch.

So because you unfortunately had some bad officers (and I daresay some irresponsible members who didn't pay their dues), somehow fraternities in general are bad? Are you saying you've never heard stories about lack of accountability, or money being lost or wasted, while in the Navy? What planet were you stationed on, by the way?

Did I say all fraternities and sororities were bad based on my bad experience? You must have missed this part of my post where I pointed out my experience may have been an anomaly:

"Maybe I just had the misfortune to have a bad experience, but everything that you mentioned (management and leadership) can be learned elsewhere, without sacrificing one's dignity as the price of entry."

This line really made me chuckle. Yes, as we all know, no Naval officer ever covers his ass when he screws up. Everyone is always accountable for his mistakes. The guilty are always punished, and the innocent are always rewarded. Sure, you betcha. What brand of Kool-aid did they serve you?

In my experience, yes. The submarine fleet is a world apart from the surface Navy, where everybody is accountable by necessity--one mistake by one crewmember can cost everybody their lives. Did my division officer lose paperwork and try to pass it off on me? Sure. I'm not talking about those sorts of CYA tactics. I'm talking about REAL leadership and management where lives are at stake.

But if you're going to condemn Greeks for those things, you're being a hypocrite if you don't condemn the Navy (and practically every other organization since the dawn of time) for exactly the same things.

See the first line of my post where I state that any organization where I have to do dumb stuff to join is not an organization I want to be a part of.

Re:Isn't this done already?

[timholman]

Me(you): "So you think I bought my friends? Tell me, do you attend church?"

Him(me): "No, I dont believe in mass indoctrination of any kind"

Me(you): "doyeee?? Lookz aat myz myspacez! i iz kool!"

Him(me): "oh yeah. You gonna finish that 26er, friend?"

Lesson: Don't put words in other peoples mouths or they will do it right back.

So you don't believe in mass indoctrination. Fine. Then I use this argument:

Me: "Do you have friends of your own? Family members you're fond of?"

Him: "Sure. Who doesn't?"

Me: "Do you sometimes give them presents? Do you buy things to please them?"

Him: "Of course."

Me: "So you buy their love and friendship, don't you?"

Lesson: Don't use simplistic "You buy your friends" arguments on anyone, because those arguments can be thrown right back in your face.

Human beings are "joiners" by nature, be it a bridge club, the Lions Club, a Masonic lodge, the VFW, the local church, or a college fraternity. By their nature, social organizations require commitment in the form of time and/or money. That why fraternity men pay dues - to support the needs and goals of the organization - not to "buy friends", any more than the members of any other organization "buy" the friends they make.