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You can find almost anything on the internet. From the everyday items such as smartphones and coffee makers, to the services of an accountant or personal trainer, to the loving – or lustful – embrace of a new partner.
What if you’re feeling a bit lonely? A platonic kind of lonely? It seems the internet now has that covered too. For those who are lacking in the platonic friendship department, ‘hire a friend’ services are there to help.
Why would you hire a friend? According to new Australian start-up Friends for Hire, a friend for hire could offer “endless possibilities”. However, those endless possibilities do not include any physical contact.
These are not friends with benefits, these are just friends. That you pay.
Hire a Friend activities
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When Friends For Hire opens its doors on March 22, friends-in-need can hire new buds to for a whole variety of activities.
You could go to sporting events, to family or work functions, to the cinema, or to workout at the gym (although, if you’re paying, you may as well hire a personal trainer and actually get some good workout tips for your money).
Your friend for hire could be your new wingman, your tutor or your gaming partner. You could go out clubbing, you could walk the dogs, or you could use your paid friend to meet non-paid friends, to save you money in the future.
Co-founder and managing partner Josh Blundell said, “Every member and friend [relationship] is going to be different, depending on what their needs are.”
Friends-in-need with romantic intentions can go elsewhere. “It’s definitely not a dating website. It’s for people who are lonely, without the expectation that things will move beyond a platonic friendship,” Blundell said.
“If anyone was found to be outside the terms of service, we would remove them from the site.”
How does it work?
While there are other rent a friend sites out there, Friends For Hire is the first to be launched and based in Australia.
When you sign up with Friends For Hire, you can either become a “friend” or a “member”. Friends can charge up to $60 per hour for their company. Members pay their “friends” the hourly fee, plus a $5 weekly membership fee to the website.
The site has around 1500 pre-registered “friends for hire” so far, and has 1843 Facebook likes at the time of writing.
The company that created Friends For Hire, Wildside Group, is based in Townsville. However, Blundell expects the site to be more popular in larger cities like Sydney and Melbourne.
“There are a larger number of transient people and a more dense population [in big cities], with friendships already formed and a larger number of people looking for friendships,” he said.
“I think it’s getting harder to meet people at the pub these days, especially with the introduction of social media, with people generally looking for more than platonic friendships.”
Still not sure?
Still feeling too embarrassed to hire a friend? Don’t be. According to a recent article in the New York Observer, all the rich people are doing it.
In the article, one rich New York divorcee said, “I think many really successful men don’t actually have time for real friends. Their old friends are either resentful or bitter or ask for money, and the new friends are often competitive.”
“There is a market, a currency for paid friends in New York,” said one fashion designer. “Some people need the money, and some people need the friends.”
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