Cloud girlfriends on facebook: cool or creepy?

Looking for the perfect girlfriend'? Soon, there will be an app for that... sort of. "Cloud Girlfriend," the latest buzz-generating internet startup, plans to offer virtual

girlfriends who will post adoring messages on your Facebook wall, or shower you with praise on Twitter, so your real friends will think you've got it going on. The company's

co-founder, David Fuhriman, promises that the "cloud girlfriends" will be a network of actual human beings — "not bots" — so users will also get the comfort of real,

wholesome interaction. Is this an innovative way to help people project the image they want, or is it just a little sad? IT'S SAD — AND NOT JUST A LITTLE: "I can think of a few

reasons guys would want this," says Kate Torgovnick at _The Frisky_, "to make another girl jealous or to convince friends and family members that they’re straight if they’re still

in the closet." But any way you look at it, getting a "fake girlfriend" is pretty darn pathetic — especially since the website advertises its faux lover wearing zebra-print

high heels. Ew. "What exactly is a cloud girlfriend" SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox. BUT IT JUST MIGHT WORK: Like it or not, nothing "gets the

online ladies going" like some _other_ lady "writing all over your Facebook wall," says Brenna Ehrlich at _Mashable_. So if this "mysterious" startup really gets

launched (and that's still a big if), it could be the salvation of many lonely guys. "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.'" "Want a girlfriend? This startup can hook you up — with a virtual

one" THIS WILL MAKE LONELY GUYS EVEN MORE MISERABLE: You have to pity "lonely dudes," says Leila Brillson at _Switched_. "Beyond the fact that they are desolate, there

are entire industries devoted to making them feel worse and taking their money." It's hard to know what's sadder — the guys who are so desperate they will actually pay for a

fake Facebook girlfriend, or the company that exploits their loneliness into a "lucrative service." "'Cloud Girlfriend' makes sad guys feel worse about being

single"