A lot of people have been talking about "friend.com" because they spent a ton of money on ads in every major city.
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A lot of people have been talking about "friend.com" because they spent a ton of money on ads in every major city.
The ads are targeting young, early adopter, urban, tech-savy people with modest disposable income.
So me, basically.
And what do they think I want? It's so insulting, LOL. A "friend."
It's an AI assistant device. Makes no sense.
Delighted that these ads are being aggressively defaced. I guess they did "start a buzz" probably not the one they wanted.
@futurebird There is no such thing as bad publicity.
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@futurebird a Guardian reporter spent a week wearing one. it went pretty much as you would expect. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/22/im-suddenly-so-angry-my-strange-unnerving-week-with-an-ai-friend
“Tell it I don’t want it recording anything I say,” says my (human) friend, Lee.
“Tell him yourself,” I say, holding up Leif to his face. Leif assures Lee that he will only record if I am pressing the button. Everyone agrees they think Leif is lying.
I email Schiffmann to ask him if Leif’s reassurances are true. They’re not. “Friends are always listening,”
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@futurebird I... Just don't know. It could be a form of self expression for some people. Probably never huge, but, the glasses are coming back successfully. Also apparently in workplace mandates? More surveillance.
Ok what if they did a rebrand and made a "chastity friend"
"The Christian AI that keeps you following Jesus."
Might make more headway with that one?
Mike Johnson was bragging about the anti-porn app he and his son had to use together for some reason...
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@futurebird I... Just don't know. It could be a form of self expression for some people. Probably never huge, but, the glasses are coming back successfully. Also apparently in workplace mandates? More surveillance.
@quinn @futurebird I'm gonna need receipts for that "successful smartglasses" thing (I mean, not from you; you're under no obligation to internet randos
) - heck, as far as I can tell not even smartwatches are anywhere close to as successful as Apple clearly thought they would be, even though a lot of people do have them. As for the glasses, I've literally only seen Mark Zuckerberg wear them & I think the only demo for them is people who think MZ is cool. So nobody. -
@quinn @futurebird I'm gonna need receipts for that "successful smartglasses" thing (I mean, not from you; you're under no obligation to internet randos
) - heck, as far as I can tell not even smartwatches are anywhere close to as successful as Apple clearly thought they would be, even though a lot of people do have them. As for the glasses, I've literally only seen Mark Zuckerberg wear them & I think the only demo for them is people who think MZ is cool. So nobody. -
Ok what if they did a rebrand and made a "chastity friend"
"The Christian AI that keeps you following Jesus."
Might make more headway with that one?
Mike Johnson was bragging about the anti-porn app he and his son had to use together for some reason...
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@futurebird There is no such thing as bad publicity.
This is true about 8 times out of 10
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Ok what if they did a rebrand and made a "chastity friend"
"The Christian AI that keeps you following Jesus."
Might make more headway with that one?
Mike Johnson was bragging about the anti-porn app he and his son had to use together for some reason...
-
Ok what if they did a rebrand and made a "chastity friend"
"The Christian AI that keeps you following Jesus."
Might make more headway with that one?
Mike Johnson was bragging about the anti-porn app he and his son had to use together for some reason...
@futurebird

How about "Ponzi Friend"
@quinn -
@futurebird

How about "Ponzi Friend"
@quinn -
Ok what if they did a rebrand and made a "chastity friend"
"The Christian AI that keeps you following Jesus."
Might make more headway with that one?
Mike Johnson was bragging about the anti-porn app he and his son had to use together for some reason...
@futurebird @quinn A pair of talking underpants could also catch on as an ironic metaphore.
I mean, that's two verticals covered right?
You could sell different voices for them as DLC. -
@futurebird @quinn A pair of talking underpants could also catch on as an ironic metaphore.
I mean, that's two verticals covered right?
You could sell different voices for them as DLC. -
"The Lord is my shepherd". What's that make me?
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People would be less lonely if social media were more full of the real people they know and wanted to follow and less full of promoted posts and advertising.
Social media can be a part of a healthy social life. But I think many of the most popular aps have gotten so cluttered and detached from doing that they are making things worse.
@futurebird @quinn
if people were less loanly, who would the loan sharks eat? -
@futurebird @quinn
if people were less loanly, who would the loan sharks eat? -
@futurebird @quinn
lonely sharks: they just want to be your friend. They won't fall on you and kill you, like a vending machine or a ... -
@futurebird @llewelly @quinn All the lonely Chondrichthyes, where do they all come from?
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@futurebird @llewelly @quinn *Yes*

Much better than the
Owner of a broken shark -
A lot of people have been talking about "friend.com" because they spent a ton of money on ads in every major city.
The ads are targeting young, early adopter, urban, tech-savy people with modest disposable income.
So me, basically.
And what do they think I want? It's so insulting, LOL. A "friend."
It's an AI assistant device. Makes no sense.
Delighted that these ads are being aggressively defaced. I guess they did "start a buzz" probably not the one they wanted.
@futurebird It’s really ironic that when I went to the website, the first thing I hit was a Captcha “to prove you’re human”.
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@futurebird It’s really ironic that when I went to the website, the first thing I hit was a Captcha “to prove you’re human”.
If AI is so great why don't you sell your big new product to THEM? Hmm?