If you’ve ever felt left out of Facebook’s ‘in a relationship with’ option, which allows users to show the world that they’re taken and proud, you might be able to escape the bizarre societal shame with the help of Cloud Girlfriend.
As reported by AOLNews, Cloud Girlfriend is a start-up Internet service that will create fake girlfriends for Facebook users who would like others to think that they’re dating someone. In other words, Cloud Girlfriend enables an unattached Facebook user to attempt to convince friends, classmates, acquaintances, and family members that he or she has a significant other.
According to Cloud Girlfriend’s site, signing up is a simple process, “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.”
But Cloud Girlfriend might not take off after all, as Facebook’s Terms of Service agreement forbids computer controlled accounts, and this would presumably apply to imaginary female Facebook users.
Though many have critiqued Cloud Girlfriend for promoting pitiful behavior, Mashable’s Brenna Ehrlich wrote that the site could spark jealousy and competitiveness among women.
“You know what gets the online ladies going? Well, when some other lady is writing all over your Facebook wall,” Ehrlich wrote. “After all, ‘I love you’ means nada unless it’s posted between a video of a big cat in a tiny box and a frantic plea from your friend Jonah to ‘Gett totaly crunked on sat! dude.'”
The site also faces an issue of believability. Digital Trends writer, Jeffrey Van Camp warned that dorky, socially awkward Cloud Girlfriend users could be outed if they appear to have a ridiculously hot Facebook girlfriend.
“No one is going to believe that Kyle, the nerd from keyboarding class is dating a supermodel, but if he nabs a moderately attractive young woman on Facebook or Twitter, well, that may be believable, for a while, ” Van Camp wrote.