Meet an Online Emotional Escort

2018-02-06

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When we get big news these days, we reach for our phones. We text our loved ones. Husband, wife, mom, best friend. Or, in some cases, our Invisible Girlfriend. We all need someone to tell (or text) our stories to. Even if they’re paid to text back. This week, we revisit a story from 2015 about a service called Invisible Girlfriend/Boyfriend, and how it’s helping lonely adults use their phones to feel understood. Even to feel loved. Quentin, a man in his 30s with cerebral palsy, wonders if his ...

When we get big news these days, we reach for our phones. We text our loved ones. Husband, wife, mom, best friend. Or, in some cases, our Invisible Girlfriend.

We all need someone to tell (or text) our stories to. Even if they’re paid to text back.

This week, we revisit a story from 2015 about a service called Invisible Girlfriend/Boyfriend, and how it’s helping lonely adults use their phones to feel understood. Even to feel loved.

Quentin, a man in his 30s with cerebral palsy, wonders if his Invisible Girlfriend is really right for him. Journalist Kashmir Hill became an Invisible Girlfriend, and was paid pennies per message as an emotional escort. And psychologist Sherry Turkle weighs the strengths and limitations of our text-based love affairs.

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